Eric Schneider

The decline of child stunting in 122 countries: a systematic review of child growth studies since the 19th century Introduction Child stunting, a measure of malnutrition, is a major global health challenge affecting 148.1 million children in 2022. Global stunting rates have declined from 47.2% in 1985 to 22.3% in ...

"Many current HICs had high levels of child stunting in the early 20th century, but there was heterogeneity: stunting was low in Scandinavia, European settler colonies & Caribbean, higher in Western Europe & exceptionally high in Japan & South Korea. Child stunting declined across the 20th century"

Thanks so much! I’ll send you an email to follow up!

Anyway, let me know if you would be interested in following this up, or if I should speak to another member of the team instead.

However, our main takeaway figure (figure 5) highlights countries where we are confident in the underlying trends. I could also re-compute country trends based on high-quality data only: we graded the certainty of evidence for all studies.

Our data aren't as reliable as the Joint Malnutrition Estimates of child stunting which are currently included because the underlying studies are very heterogeneous, especially for older historical periods.

@ourworldindata.org @maxroser.bsky.social @hannahritchie.bsky.social

Not sure if it is easier to reach you all here or on email, but I wondered if Our World In Data would be interested in incorporating our new data into its articles on child stunting, malnutrition and adult stature.

Understanding that long-run decline helps us think more clearly about global health policy today.

The past doesn’t just show us where we’ve been — it shows what is possible.

10)

The big lesson:

Stunting is not fixed by geography or culture.

It is historically contingent — and reversible.

Countries that eliminated widespread stunting did so over decades of sustained change.

9)

The decline in stunting was part of the broader health transition.

Improved nutrition, reduced infectious disease, sanitation, public health systems, and rising incomes all reshaped child growth.

This was structural transformation — not just isolated interventions.

8)

There was strong regional variation:

• Lower early stunting in Scandinavia and some settler economies
• Higher rates in parts of Western Europe
• Exceptionally high levels in Japan and Korea

But the long-run trend almost everywhere was downward.

7)

The historical picture is striking:

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, stunting was widespread — even in countries that are high-income today.

Large shares of children in Europe, North America, and East Asia were stunted by today’s standards.

6)

In our new paper (BMJ Global Health), we systematically collected 923 historical growth studies covering 122 countries from 1814–2016.

By harmonising height-by-age data, we reconstruct stunting patterns over two centuries.

Link: doi.org/10.1136/bmjg...

5)

But here’s the key question:

What happened before modern surveys?

How common was stunting in the 19th century? During industrialisation? In early 20th-century Europe or East Asia?

Until now, we didn’t have systematic global evidence.

4)

Today, stunting is a core global health indicator.

Globally, rates fell from roughly 47% in the mid-1980s to about 22% today.

That’s major progress — but still hundreds of millions of children affected.

3)

Why does it matter?

Stunting is associated with:
• Higher child mortality
• Impaired cognitive development
• Lower adult earnings
• Worse health across the life course

It reflects the biological imprint of social and economic conditions.

2)

What is child stunting — and how has it changed over the last 200 years?

Stunting means being too short for one’s age due to chronic undernutrition and disease in early life.

It’s one of the clearest markers of cumulative deprivation in childhood.

1)

<em>The Economic History Review</em> | EHS Journal | Wiley Online Library Click on the title to browse this issue

The Economic History Review has published a virtual issue collecting the contributions of 2025 Nobel Laureate Joel Mokyr in the journal. I had the privilege of writing the introductory essay. You can read it here, together with Joel's articles and reviews.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1...

Deadline Monday!
24 November is the new deadline for New Researcher Poster proposals for the 2026 EHS Centenary Conference, which will be hosted at the LSE, 10–12 April 2026.
Posters are eligible to win a prize of £100.
More info and to apply:
ehs.org.uk/conference/n...

Co-creating feminist technology to confront gender-based violence and feminicide How can technology support social justice struggles against gender-based violence and feminicide? This talk explores this question through the work of “Data Against Feminicide”, a collaborative

Up next in the London Universities Population Seminar Series:

On 25 November at 12:45, Dr Isadora Cruxên (QMUL) will present “Co-creating feminist technology to confront gender-based violence and feminicide.”

Join us in G08 (Keppel Street) or online: www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/e...

Just a reminder to sign up for this webinar on IPUMS International on Wednesday!

Hi all, please spread the word and we hope everyone can make good use of this new data drop: cmfdata.org

The full surviving establishment-level Census of Manufactures manuscripts and digitized data from 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880!

Whether you’re in economics, history, demography, or sociology — this is a chance to explore how global census microdata can power your research.

Find out more about the LSE Historical Economic Demography Group @lseechist.bsky.social here: www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-His...

The event features the IPUMS team @ipums.bsky.social + scholars using census data in innovative ways:
👤 @msaleh-econhistory.bsky.social — 19th-century Egyptian censuses.
👤 @julianajaramilloe.bsky.social — Fertility decline in Colombia.
👤 @hggaddy.bsky.social — Study of polygamy across 30 countries.

Register for IPUMs International Online Session Please use this form to register for the IPUMs International Session hosted by the Historical Economic Demography Group at LSE. The session will be on Zoom from 15:15-16:30 UK Time on 12 November 202...

Curious about using census microdata in your research? 📊

Join us for a webinar on IPUMS International, the world’s leading repository of harmonized census data.

🗓️ 12 Nov 2025 | 🕒 15:15–16:30 UK | 💻 Zoom
Register: forms.gle/oqTDNU4Zpn2s...

Hosted by the LSE Historical Economic Demography Group.

Kicking off London Universities Population Seminars for the new academic year!

Join us Oct 28 in person (LSE, KSW.G.01) or online to hear from Prof Karen Glaser (KCL) on mental & physical health changes among adults aged 50-69 in England.

Full schedule & sign up:
sites.google.com/view/londonp...

@tizianaleone.bsky.social

LondonPopSeminar About the Seminar Series The London Universities Population Seminar Series is a collaboration between the population groups at the London School of Economics and Political Science, the London School ...

Sign up to attend online or see the full seminar schedule here:

sites.google.com/view/londonp...

Organised by LSE's Pop@LSE and Historical Economic Demography Research Groups, LSHTM's Population Studies Group @psglshtm.bsky.social, and UCL's Centre for Longitudinal Studies @clscohorts.bsky.social.

Join us for the London Universities Population Seminar on 28 October at noon UK time at LSE. Prof Karen Glaser (Kings) will present 'Changes in mental and physical health among adults aged 50 – 69 in England: Implications for economic inactivity'. The seminar will be in-person and online.

The LSE and South Coast ESRC Doctoral Training Partnerships, in collaboration with the British Society of Population Studies, would like to invite you to a jointly-organised masterclass entitled: “Being an academic in Population Studies: a masterclass for PhD students on data challenges and career progression” Monday 3 of November 2025, 10am – 4.15 pm (Coffee from 9.30 am, Lunch between 1.15-2.15pm), LSE PhD Academy, LRB 4.02, Lionel Robbins Building (4th Floor), 10 Portugal Street, London WC2A 2HD. If you would like to reserve a space, please sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/being-anacademic-in-population-studies-a-masterclass-for-phd-students-tickets-1693083350879? aff=oddtdtcreator For DTP-funded students, we expect that funding for travel expenses and/or accommodation will come from their home DTP (ie. RTSG). For non-DTP-funded students, five bursaries will be available. If you wish to apply for a travel bursary for your travel expenses, please send an email to Adrien Allorant with a provisional budget by the 13th of October.

LSE and @bspsuk.bsky.social are hosting a workshop on "Being an academic in population studies" on 3 November! It'll be a nice mix of methods training and career advice with great talks by @ericbschneider.bsky.social, Wendy Sigle, José Manuel Aburto, and others!

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/being-an-a...

One Epidemic, Many Estimates (1EME) One Epidemic, Many Estimates (1EME)

📢 Interested in excess mortality methods, and want a challenge? I'm organising the "One Epidemic, Many Estimates" (1EME) project! Register *now* as a many analyst team (submissions due 15 March 2026), and then join us at LSE for a workshop on 21-22 May 2026! (1/n)

www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-His...