Prevalence and trends of stunting among pre-school children, 1990–2020

To quantify the prevalence and trends of stunting among children using the WHO growth standards.

Five hundred and seventy-six nationally representative surveys, including anthropometric data, were analysed. Stunting was defined as the proportion of children below -2sd from the WHO length- or height-for-age standards median. Linear mixed-effects modelling was used to estimate rates and numbers of affected children from 1990 to 2010, and projections to 2020.