Major Differences in the Distribution of Stunting within Countries

Micronutrient deficiency and the consequent growth retardations (stunting) in children under the age of five vary widely within the affected countries. The following figure taken from the Global Hunger Index 2017 (1) refers to the wide range of regional differences (e.g by 50 % in Nigeria).

The editors of the Global Hunger Index 2017 therefore suggest that aid programs fighting malnutrition and stunting should be specifically  adapted to the affected regions (2).

These data on the subnational distribution of stunting confirm the approach chosen by the Students4Kids initiative to work with students from developing countries to develop geographical targeting  strategies against micronutrient deficiencies.

“Micronutrient deficiencies always occur regionally specific. Therefore, they can only be permanently reduced with actions that are adapted to the geographical and social conditions. From my point of view, there is no universal recipe that just needs to be discovered, exported and then applied. The tasks change from competition to competition […]”explains Prof. Assmann, the Chairman of the Assmann Foundation for Prevention in his F.A.Z. Interview on October 13^th, 2017 (3).

Read and see more:

1. Cf. IFPRI, Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe. 2017. Global Hunger Index. The Inequalities of Hunger. Washington, DC/Bonn/Dublin October 2017. Page 17, available via: http://www.globalhungerindex.org/pdf/en/2017.pdf
2. Cf. ibidem, Fig. 2.4.
3. G. Assmann, FRCP. German interview in the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on October 13th with Prof. Assmann about last year’s competition and the summit Students4Kids 2017, available via http://students4kids.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Abschlussanzeige_Students4Kids_2017_final.pdf