✍️ New article: “Childhood stunting fell dramatically over the 20th century” One in four children in the world today suffers from “stunting”. That’s 150 *million* children under five. A stunted child is too short for their age due to poor nutrition and frequent infections. Stunting suggests that their physical and cognitive development have been hindered, and the effects can last a lifetime. In many countries, stunting was once prevalent but has now been nearly eliminated. Japan is one such success story that has particularly high-quality data. But there are still many countries, especially in Asia and Africa, where stunting affects more than a third of all children. You can see this in the chart. How have some countries made so much progress against stunting? And what can other countries where rates are still high learn from this? In a new article, @_HannahRitchie and Tuna Acisu answer these questions by zooming in on Japan. Their analysis is made possible by a crucial new dataset published by Eric Schneider and colleagues. Before World War II, Japan focused on tackling infectious disease, particularly through the expansion of clean, piped water. Stunting declined at a moderate pace. After the war, they tackled both disease *and* diet, with diversified foods, school lunch programs, and more. This multifaceted approach made progress nearly three times faster.

1/ Why do many WASH interventions have limited effects on child stunting? Our historical data suggest something surprising: Sanitation infrastructure alone often wasn’t enough, even in the past. New BMJ Global Health paper 👇 doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2024-0…