BMC Public Health is calling for submissions to our Collection on childhood stunting.
Childhood stunting is the result of poor nutrition, repeated infections, and inadequate emotional support of a child, which leads to the failure to reach the child’s full growth potential. Moreover, stunting is an important contributing risk factor to child morbidity and mortality.
Stunting is defined based on low children’s height relative to their age and is measured using the child’s height which, in this condition, is more than two standard deviations below the World Health Organization growth standard median.
Although stunting can occur throughout childhood, it often starts in utero. It has been demonstrated that “the first 1000 days” of a child, which start from conception up until the child’s second birthday, are very important in determining stunting status. Therefore, mothers can play a key role in preventing their children’s malnutrition based on their own nutritional status.
Childhood stunting is also determined by social, economic and political conditions and more common in developing countries, which are characterized by higher levels of social inequality. Its long-term implications are several and include poor intellectual performance, low work capacity and increased risk of metabolic disorders and chronic diseases in adulthood.
Sustainable development goal targets outline ending all forms of malnutrition, including achieving targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age by 2030. These are addressed under Sustainable Development Goal 1-No Poverty , Sustainable Development Goal 2-Zero Hunger, and Sustainable Development Goal 3- Good Health and Well-Being.
In launching this collection on childhood stunting, BMC Public Health welcomes submissions addressing:
- The prevalence of early childhood stunting
- Factors contributing to the reduction in childhood stunting
- Socio-demographic and environmental determinants of childhood stunting
- Nutritional-related interventions for pregnant mothers to reduce the risk of stunting in their children
- Public health Interventions to reduce childhood stunting in developing countries
- Long-term effects of childhood stunting on adults.
Image credit: Riccardo Niels Mayer / stock.adobe.com
