Measures of child undernutrition are used to track development progress. In terms of overall progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, Sub-Saharan Africa is far behind all other regions and the furthest from reaching a 50 per cent reduction in stunting prevalence since 1990. Meanwhile, the number of overweight children worldwide – another aspect of malnutrition – is rapidly rising.
Now, in the Post-2015 development era, estimates of child malnutrition will help determine whether the world is on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals – particularly, Goal 2 to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”.