Stunting in children — all countries

Stunting in children — Papua New Guinea

Stunting in children in Papua New Guinea in 2010 — 49.5%. Ranked 40 in the world out of 42. Since 1983, the indicator has risen by 3.5 pp.

2010 49.5% +5.6 pp vs 2005
World rank 40of 42
Period maximum 49.5%2010
Period minimum 43.9%2005

Trend over time

1983–2010 · % of children under 5

Stunting in children — Papua New Guinea, 1983–2010424446485019831986198919921995199820012004200720101983: 46%2005: 43.9%2010: 49.5%
Change over the period: +3.5 pp Annual average: 0.13 pp
Stunting in children — Papua New Guinea, by year Papua New Guinea All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2010 49.5
2005 43.9
1983 46

About the indicator

The share of children under five whose height falls short of the WHO norm for their age by more than two standard deviations. Stunting is the trace of a prolonged shortage of nutrition in the first years of life, and it is irreversible: height cannot be made up later. That is why the indicator is considered the main measure of chronic undernutrition, unlike wasting, which speaks of an acute shortage of food right now.

Important: The data come from sample household surveys and are not annual: for the intervening years there are no values. The aggregate by country group is weighted by the number of children aged 0–14 — it cannot be weighted by population, the share of small children is too different.

Source: Global Health Observatory (WHO), license CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.