NGER A LIFE FREE FROM HUNGER - Save the Children

a life free from hunger
THERE ARE NOW 15 MILLION MORE STUNTED CHILDREN
IN AFRICA THAN IN 1990 – 60 MILLION IN TOTAL
there are now 15 million more stunted children in Africa than in 1990 – 60 million in
total. 52 Essentially, there has been little progress on nutrition in Africa in a generation.
The number of African children who are stunted is predicted to continue growing.
Research by Save the Children suggests that by 2020 it will be 8.5 million higher than
today, and by 2025 this figure will have risen to 11.7 milion higher. 53
Reductions in stunting in Asia, particularly east Asia and parts of south-east Asia, are
responsible for the vast majority of the global decline in stunting. East Asia has shown
the most rapid reduction, with the number of malnourished children falling by two-thirds
between 1990 and 2010, from 35.9% to 12%, largely reflecting the rapid progress
of China. 54
However, this is not representative of all of Asia. Progress has been slower in south
Asia and much of south-east Asia (with Cambodia and Laos achieving much less than
neighbouring Vietnam). Projections show that the prevalence of stunting is expected to
fall by just a quarter (to 26%) in south-central Asia over the ten years to 2020, compared
FIGURE 3 PREVALENCE OF STUNTING IN AFRICA
AND IN ASIA
AFRICA
ASIA*
ESTIMATED STUNTED PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN (%)
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
*excluding Japan
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
YEAR
Source: M de Onis et al, ‘Prevalence and trends of stunting among pre-school children, 1990–2020’,
Public Health Nutrition July 2011, 14, 1–7
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