[OC] In early life brains and bodies develop faster than at any other point—connections form between neurons that will [affect a child’s future IQ](https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/07/11/how-to-raise-the-worlds-iq) and bones grow to determine their future height. Malnutrition in these early years can wreak irreversible damage. The most visible sign of a lack of essential nutrients is stunting, when a child is much shorter than they should be for their age.
The map and charts shows estimated stunting rates and projections into the future, accounting for changing birth rates and nutrition in countries over time. This is more complicated than one might expect. The world-wide stunting rate may rise even if it falls in every country, for instance, because births shifts from rich countries to poor. To account for this requires modelling both stunting rates and demography over time.
For this and a series of related pieces, my colleagues travelled to Bangladesh and Uganda (among other places) to speak to parents and policymakers. We also interviewed experts on nutrition and brain development.
The data suggests that things are getting better: in almost all world regions, the rate of children who are abnormally short for their age — the most visible sign of malnutrition — is falling. However, both stagnation, and faster progress, is possible.
Which path the world takes will depend largely on poverty, policy and philanthropy. Straightforward interventions, such as distributing vitamin-enriched food, giving iron supplements to pregnant women and educating parents on healthy eating habits, [have been found to help](https://www.economist.com/briefing/2024/07/11/small-investments-in-nutrition-could-make-the-world-brainier)—many children suffer from malnutrition not because of a lack of food, but rather a lack of the right food. Efforts to fight disease, such as giving out bednets to fight malaria, or building latrines to reduce diarrhoea, do too. All these measures tend to be cheap to implement, and pay dividends.
Perhaps small wonder that some of the top NGOs according to charity rankers implement such interventions. If you are interested, these include [Helen Keller International](https://helenkellerintl.org/) (which distributes vitamin supplements), [GiveDirectly](https://www.givedirectly.org/) (which distributes cash directly to the ultra poor), and the [Against Malaria Foundation](https://www.againstmalaria.com/) (which distributes bednets). They all say they could scale up with more funding.
Not bombing Libya back into the stone age would have helped
The last thing anyone 450m tall needs is to be even taller..
![[OC] Cheap fixes could help 450m people stand taller and think quicker](https://www.europesays.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/7d57jmuxzlhd1.png)
4 comments
[OC] In early life brains and bodies develop faster than at any other point—connections form between neurons that will [affect a child’s future IQ](https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/07/11/how-to-raise-the-worlds-iq) and bones grow to determine their future height. Malnutrition in these early years can wreak irreversible damage. The most visible sign of a lack of essential nutrients is stunting, when a child is much shorter than they should be for their age.
The map and charts shows estimated stunting rates and projections into the future, accounting for changing birth rates and nutrition in countries over time. This is more complicated than one might expect. The world-wide stunting rate may rise even if it falls in every country, for instance, because births shifts from rich countries to poor. To account for this requires modelling both stunting rates and demography over time.
Free to read here: [https://econ.st/4fEGN20](https://econ.st/4fEGN20) / [https://econ.st/4fBXmeU](https://econ.st/4fBXmeU) / [https://econ.st/4cl4xoM](https://econ.st/4cl4xoM)
Permanent link: [https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2024/08/08/cheap-fixes-could-help-450m-people-stand-taller-and-think-quicker](https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2024/08/08/cheap-fixes-could-help-450m-people-stand-taller-and-think-quicker)
Source code and data is open here: [https://github.com/TheEconomist/nutrition](https://github.com/TheEconomist/nutrition)
Tools used: R, JS, Illustrator
For this and a series of related pieces, my colleagues travelled to Bangladesh and Uganda (among other places) to speak to parents and policymakers. We also interviewed experts on nutrition and brain development.
The data suggests that things are getting better: in almost all world regions, the rate of children who are abnormally short for their age — the most visible sign of malnutrition — is falling. However, both stagnation, and faster progress, is possible.
Which path the world takes will depend largely on poverty, policy and philanthropy. Straightforward interventions, such as distributing vitamin-enriched food, giving iron supplements to pregnant women and educating parents on healthy eating habits, [have been found to help](https://www.economist.com/briefing/2024/07/11/small-investments-in-nutrition-could-make-the-world-brainier)—many children suffer from malnutrition not because of a lack of food, but rather a lack of the right food. Efforts to fight disease, such as giving out bednets to fight malaria, or building latrines to reduce diarrhoea, do too. All these measures tend to be cheap to implement, and pay dividends.
Perhaps small wonder that some of the top NGOs according to charity rankers implement such interventions. If you are interested, these include [Helen Keller International](https://helenkellerintl.org/) (which distributes vitamin supplements), [GiveDirectly](https://www.givedirectly.org/) (which distributes cash directly to the ultra poor), and the [Against Malaria Foundation](https://www.againstmalaria.com/) (which distributes bednets). They all say they could scale up with more funding.
Not bombing Libya back into the stone age would have helped
The last thing anyone 450m tall needs is to be even taller..
I’m Libyan didn’t know we had this issue