Child stunting has fallen by nearly a third since 2000 — 50 million fewer children held back by hunger

Stunting is the quietest kind of hunger: a child who eats too little of the right food for too long grows up shorter — and often faces weaker schooling and lower earnings for life. Joint estimates from UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the World Bank show the share of under-fives who are stunted fell from 33.1 percent in 2000 to 23.2 percent in 2024 — from just over 200 million children to close to 150 million, even as world population grew. Better maternal nutrition, breastfeeding, safe water and fewer childhood infections did the work. Progress has stalled since 2020, the agencies warn — but two decades of proof show it can move.

SDG 2 · Zero hunger — Mechanism: institutional program