BharatNotes What is Stunting and Wasting?
Stunting and wasting are the two anthropometric measures used by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to assess undernutrition in children under five, both benchmarked against the WHO Child Growth Standards.
- Stunting is low height-for-age — a height-for-age Z-score (HAZ) below −2 standard deviations from the median. It reflects chronic or recurrent undernutrition and is largely irreversible after the first 1,000 days.
- Wasting is low weight-for-height — a weight-for-height Z-score (WHZ) below −2SD. It reflects acute, recent and often severe weight loss. WHZ below −3SD is severe wasting, clinically termed Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).
A simple mnemonic: Stunting = Stature (height, chronic); Wasting = Weight (acute).
Key Distinctions
| Feature | Stunting | Wasting |
|---|---|---|
| Measure | Height-for-age (HAZ < −2SD) | Weight-for-height (WHZ < −2SD) |
| Nature | Chronic / long-term | Acute / short-term |
| Typical cause | Sustained deprivation, repeated infection, poor maternal nutrition | Sudden food shortage, acute illness, famine |
| Reversibility | Largely irreversible after age 2 | Reversible with timely treatment |
| Severe form | (no separate "severe stunting" policy category) | Severe wasting = SAM (WHZ < −3SD) |
Current Status (India and Global)
Global (WHO, 2022 estimates): about 149 million children under five were stunted and 45 million were wasted.
India — NFHS-5 (2019-21):
| Indicator | NFHS-5 (2019-21) | NFHS-4 (2015-16) |
|---|---|---|
| Stunting | 35.5% | 38.4% |
| Wasting | 19.3% | 21.0% |
| Severe wasting | 7.7% | 7.5% |
| Underweight | 32.1% | 35.8% |
While stunting, wasting and underweight all declined between the two surveys, severe wasting marginally rose (7.5% to 7.7%), a persistent concern.
In the Global Hunger Index 2024, India ranked 105th of 127 countries with a score of 27.3 ("serious" hunger), with child wasting of 18.7% — among the highest globally — and child stunting of 35.5%.
Policy Response
- POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission), launched on 8 March 2018 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, targeted reducing stunting by about 2% per year through inter-ministerial convergence, technology and behaviour change.
- Mission Poshan 2.0 merged the Supplementary Nutrition Programme and POSHAN Abhiyaan into an integrated nutrition framework, delivered largely through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and anganwadi network.
- The strategic focus is the first 1,000 days (conception to age two), the window in which stunting becomes largely irreversible.
UPSC Angle
Expect Prelims items pairing each term with its correct index (height-for-age vs weight-for-height) and with the right agency (WHO, NFHS, GHI). For Mains GS2/GS3, link persistent malnutrition to maternal health, sanitation, the SDG-2 "Zero Hunger" target, and the design logic of convergence-based schemes — explaining why India's child-wasting rate stays high even amid rising incomes.
