What's the proof? Stunting in kids – a sign of poor nutrition early in life — has dropped by a third in the past two decades, UNICEF Monday. But there's a long way to go. Globally, a quarter of kids under the age of 5 were stunted in 2011. That's roughly 165 million children worldwide, with nearly 75 percent of them living in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the report says.
The progress has been most dramatic in East Asia and Latin America, where stunting has decreased by a whopping 70 and 50 percent, respectively. Even very poor countries, like Ethiopia and Nepal, have quickly made progress against malnutrition and stunting.
"People were always skeptical that you could reduce the number of malnourished children quickly without greatly improving a country's economy," , who leads the nutrition division for UNICEF, tells The Salt. "It's very doable, and it doesn't cost $100 per child. It's relatively cheap."
