ArticleEuropean journal of clinical nutrition2020
Stunting is not a synonym of malnutrition.
Article in European journal of clinical nutrition, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 40 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 110 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and associated factors of undernutrition among adolescents in India: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Comparison of Indonesian Growth Reference Chart and World Health Organization Child Growth Standard in Detecting Stunting: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of 15,874 ChildrenJournal of clinical research in pediatric endocrinology · 2022Pooled it
- Longitudinal assessments of child growth: A six-year follow-up of a cluster-randomized maternal education trial.Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2021Trial
- Altitude and child development: A cross-sectional comparative study of children in urbanized low-altitude and rural high-altitude settings in Kyrgyzstan.Physiological reports · 2026Article
- Stunting Reversal versus Regression to the Mean in Epidemiological Studies of Child Linear Growth in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Review
- Use of WHO Growth Standards Rather Than Locally Specific Linear Growth Curves Promotes Equity in Pediatric Growth Research for Children Younger Than 5 Years.Nutrition reviews · 2026Review
- Associations of IGF-1, vitamin D, and bone minerals with short stature in children aged 24-59 months.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- Sedentarization and Child Health: A Case Study of the Nutritional Status of Children Under 5 Years Old in the Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025Article
- Adaptive Responses in Severe Acute Malnutrition: Endocrinology, Metabolomics, Mortality, and Growth.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Child Height in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025Article
- The effect of early childhood stature on later cognitive functions in Indonesian adolescents: comparation using the National growth reference and the WHO growth standard.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Poorer Longitudinal Growth Among HIV Exposed Compared With Unexposed Infants in Kenya.Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) · 2025Article
- Utilizing Local Food Sources in a Sustainable Healthy Diet System and Psychosocial Care to Reduce Malnutrition.Pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology & nutrition · 2025Article
- Infant body composition at 6 and 24 months: what are the driving factors?European journal of clinical nutrition · 2024Article
- Influence of maternal and neonatal continuum of care on the risk of intergenerational cycle of stunting: a cross-sectional study.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Gut microbiota differences in stunted and normal-lenght children aged 36-45 months in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.PloS one · 2024Observational
- Childhood Undernutrition Trends in India - What is Our Direction and Speed?Indian journal of pediatrics · 2023Article
- Socioeconomic disparities in Rwanda's under-5 population's growth tracking and nutrition promotion: findings from the 2019-2020 demographic and health survey.BMC pediatrics · 2023Article
- Risk Factors for Stunting among Children under Five Years in the Province of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Indonesia.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- International standard growth charts overestimate stunting prevalence in Nabire and Jakarta, Indonesia, compared to the Indonesian national growth chart.Clinical pediatric endocrinology : case reports and clinical investigations : official journal of the Japanese Society for Pediatric Endocrinology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
28 authors at 9 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWHO documents characterize stunting as, "…impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation." The equation of stunting with malnutrition is common. This contrasts with historic and modern observations indicating that growth in height is largely independent of the extent and nature of the diet. SUBJECTS: We measured 1716 Indonesian children, aged 6.0-13.2 years, from urban Kupang/West-Timor and rural Soe/West-Timor, urban Ubud/Bali, and rural Marbau/North Sumatra. We clinically assessed signs of malnutrition and skin infections.
resultsThere was no relevant correlation between nutritional status (indicated by skinfold thickness) and height SDS (hSDS). In total 53% of boys, and 46% girls in rural Soe were stunted, with no meaningful association between mean of triceps and subscapular skinfolds (x̅SF) and height. Skinfold thickness was close to German values. Shortest and tallest children did not differ relevantly in skinfold thickness. The same applied for the association between hSDS and mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) using linear mixed effects models with both fixed and random effects. In total 35.6% boys and 29.2% girls in urban Ubud were overweight; 21.4% boys and 12.4% girls obese, but with mean hSDS = -0.3, still short. Relevant associations between hSDS and x̅SF and MUAC were only found among the overweight urban children confirming that growth is accelerated in overweight and obese children. There were no visible clinical signs of malnutrition or chronic infection in the stunted children.
conclusionThe present data seriously question the concept of stunting as prima facie evidence of malnutrition and chronic infection.
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