Nutrition

Malnutrition is one of the world’s most serious, least-addressed development challenges, hitting poor people, women, and children hardest.

In 2024, over 150 million children under the age of five were stunted (low height-for-age), linked to cognitive losses, reduced lifetime earnings, and weaker human capital.

Global stunting declined from 40% in 1990 to 23.2% in 2024, but progress has plateaued, putting the 2030 trajectory at risk (see JME). Food price spikes and climate shocks are rolling back gains.

Regional trends

South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa carry the greatest burden, with about two-thirds of 150.2 million stunted children. While some countries have seen rapid declines, stunting has increased in at least 34 countries. In Africa, the number of stunted children rose by over 2 million between 2012 and 2024, driven by high fertility and slower declines.

Economic impact and the double burden

Stunting can cause irreversible damage, with lifelong costs for education, income, and productivity. Undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies cost the global economy at least $3.5 trillion a year. At the same time, overweight and obesity are rising quickly in low- and middle-income countries, with 35.5 million children under five living with overweight, up 2.4 million since 2000. Many countries now face a double burden of stunting and overweight, increasing non-communicable disease risks and costs.

Solutions

Countries need integrated action that tackles undernutrition and obesity together, scaling proven interventions and using fiscal and regulatory tools such as nutrition-focused health taxes, marketing rules, and labeling for products like sugar-sweetened beverages, plus consumer nutrition education. The 2025 UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group JME underscores that stunting and overweight remain persistent or worsen in several regions. Financing at scale is essential, including innovative financing and more efficient use of resources through tools like Optima Nutrition.

The World Bank Group supports countries with evidence, technical assistance, and financing to scale proven nutrition interventions.

Guided by the evolution roadmap, the Bank’s early-years focus (nutrition, early learning and stimulation, nurturing care, protection from stress) helps build human capital.

Nutrition financing rose from about US $12 million (2012) to over US $2 billion (2023), alongside partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, the Nutrition Multi-Donor Trust Fund, and others, plus civil society and parliamentarians advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.

The World Bank is strengthening nutrition financing and accountability through the Investment Framework for Nutrition 2024, which also informed commitments at the 2025 Paris Nutrition for Growth Summit (N4G).

Scaling undernutrition action requires an additional $128 billion over 2025–2034 (about $13 per pregnant woman and $17 per child under five), delivered through multisectoral, country-owned strategies that strengthen systems, promote equity, and improve early detection and treatment, as noted in the Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates 2025 edition. Over three quarters of needs ($98 billion) are in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Obesity prevention needs are lower (about $3.5 per capita annually). High-impact investments could avert 6.2 million deaths in children under five and 980,000 stillbirths over 10 years, yielding about $2.4 trillion in benefits, about $23 returned per $1 invested, versus about $41 trillion costs of inaction over 10 years.

The Global Challenge Program mobilizes private capital and innovative financing. Options include integrating nutrition into Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and adaptive safety net programs, repurposing agrifood subsidies for healthy diets, and leveraging climate funds, sovereign wealth funds, and private-sector finance. Efficiency is also critical, including nutrition-responsive budgeting and public financial management (PFM) reforms to strengthen allocation and spending efficiency.

These examples show multisectoral, community-anchored approaches that sustain gains as stunting reduction slows globally.

Senegal: Cut stunting from over 30% (pre-2000) to ~18% via a community-based program with local government, district health services, and civil society. Results show targeted nutrition investments can deliver even when growth is uneven.

Peru: Reduced stunting from 28% (2007) to 13% (2016) through political commitment, results-based budgeting that tracked financing, the Juntos conditional cash transfer program, and coordinated multisectoral delivery.

Ethiopia: Reduced stunting from 44% (2011) to 38% (2016) under the Seqota Declaration, backed by community health extension workers and multisectoral programming. A US$445 million World Bank Program for Results is strengthening primary health care to sustain and accelerate progress.

Indonesia: Accelerated reductions after 2018 under its national strategy, supported by the World Bank. Stunting fell from 30.8% to 21.5% by 2023, with presidential leadership, coordinated action across ministries, and village-level Human Development Workers across 514 districts.

Rwanda: Reduced stunting from 37.9% (2015) to 33.1% (2020) with World Bank support and co-financing from the Power of Nutrition and the Global Financing Facility. In intervention districts, the minimum acceptable diet for children 6–23 months rose from 34.6% to 59.5%.

Uganda: The Multisectoral Food Security and Nutrition Project, implemented by four ministries in 15 districts, reduced stunting in project areas from 29% to 22.8% (2016–2022). Anemia fell from 53% to 43.6%, dietary diversity improved, and an impact evaluation confirmed results now informing Uganda's Fourth National Development Plan.

Strengthening frontline nutrition services

Nutrition results depend on strong delivery systems. Support focuses on primary care, community health workers, supply chains for nutrition commodities, growth monitoring, and behavior change, especially during pregnancy and early childhood. Programs also reinforce data systems and accountability so nutrition services reach vulnerable households reliably and at scale.

Shaping healthier food environments

Preventing overweight and obesity requires policies that shift incentives toward healthier choices. Countries are using health taxes, labeling, marketing restrictions, and targeted reforms to reduce consumption of unhealthy products while generating revenue for health priorities. These approaches complement nutrition service delivery and support long-term reductions in diet-related disease.

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