EFA Goal 1: Early childhood care and education; Asia ... - Unicef

Stunting, or low height for age, is one of several indicators in the analysis of healthy child development.
As shown in figure 11, South Asia has the highest rate of stunting among all subregions, with an
alarmingly large proportion of young children affected. According to UNICEF (2010c: 16), “In the
developing world, children living in rural areas are almost 1.5 times as likely to be stunted as those
in urban areas. Children in the poorest 20 per cent of households are twice as likely to be stunted as
children in the richest 20 per cent of households. Children younger than 2 years are most vulnerable
to stunting, the effects of which are then largely irreversible.”
Figure 11: Percentage of children younger than 5 years who are stunted, by region, 2009
50%
45%
40%
42
48
35%
30%
32
34
25%
20%
22
15%
10%
14
5%
0
Sub-Saharan
Africa
Middle East and
North Africa
South Asia
East Asia and
the Pacific
Latin America and
the Caribbean
World
Source: WHO data, cited in UNICEF, 2009.
Stimulation and nutrition together can positively affect children’s development and conversely,
their absence can seriously impair development. Unless urgent measures are put in place to combat
this scourge, it will not be possible to achieve the EFA goals as well as the Millennium Development
Goals. Holistic early childhood care and education significantly impacts and positively influences
long-term educational outcomes for young children. Figure 12 indicates that children from the
poorest contexts are most likely to be malnourished and underweight.
Figure 12: Percentage of children 0–59 months old who are underweight, by household
wealth quintile, 2003-2009
South Asia
Sub-Saharan
Africa
Middle East And
North Africa
9
8
13
14
13
12
20
20
24
40
Developing
35
30
countries
25
15
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
29
28
34
41
49
56
Poorest 20%
Second 20%
Middle
Fourth 20%
Richest 20%
Note: Analysis is based on a subset of 61 countries with household wealth quintile information, covering 52 per cent
of the under-5 population in the developing world. Prevalence estimates are calculated according to WHO
Child Growth Standards, 2003–2009. CEE/CIS, East Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean
are not included due to lack of data coverage.
Source: UNICEF, 2010c, based on its global databases from MICS, DHS and other national surveys, 2003–2009,
Retrieved from http://www.childinfo.org/undernutrition_status.html
EFA Goal 1: Early Childhood Care and Education
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