The Impact of COVID-19 on the Reduction of Child Stunting over the Next Two Decades
This brief was written by Willem Verhagen at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures at the University of Denver under USAID's Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC). You can view the full brief here.
The problem: Child stunting is a major development challenge
Child stunting is the most prevalent form of child undernourishment. In 2019, it affected 161.7 million children under the age of five around the globe. Its impacts on children are often far reaching, resulting in direct health issues and loss of life. In 2015, the international community set a target to end child stunting by 2030, through Sustainable Development Goal 2. Our analysis projects that between 2020 and 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic will increase the number of children experiencing stunting by 1.6 million globally. While we have begun to understand the short-term consequences of the pandemic on child stunting, limited insights are available with respect to its long-term impacts. This work increases the understanding of how COVID-19 may affect long-term trends in child stunting and can serve as a baseline for future research to measure the effectiveness of policies designed to accelerate progress on the reduction of child stunting. With this information, policy makers can be better equipped to assess the challenges ahead.
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The Impact of COVID-19 on the Reduction of Child Stunting over the Next Two Decades