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Wasting and Stunting: Evidence Generation

Within the WaSt TIG, we continue to generate evidence to increase the understanding of the relationship between wasting and stunting and what this tells us about their aetiology, consequences, treatment and prevention. The WaSt TIG identified a number of research gaps in its original review of the literature which were subsequently prioritised and have formed the basis of the work the group has undertaken since. Some of the key pieces of research we have led on include:

Expanding our knowledge on the relationship between wasting and stunting

• 'The Aetiology of Wasting' (2018)
• ‘The relationship between wasting and stunting in young children: A systematic review’ (2021)
• ‘Children concurrently wasted and stunted: A meta-analysis of prevalence data of children 6 – 59 months from 84 countries’ (2017)
• ‘Children who are both wasted and stunted are also underweight and have a high risk of death: a descriptive epidemiology of multiple anthropometric deficits using data from 51 countries’ (2018)
• ‘Concurrent wasting and stunting among under-five children in Niakhar, Senegal’ (2018)
• ‘The relationship between wasting and stunting: a retrospective cohort analysis of longitudinal data in Gambian children from 1976 to 2016’ (2019)

Exploring the mortality risks associated with wasting and stunting and evidencing what that means for practice

• A paper exploring which anthropometric criteria for best identifying children at risk of mortality which has pointed to the value of using MUAC and weight-for-age (WAZ) case definitions to identify children at the highest mortality risk ('Anthropometric criteria for best-identifying children at high risk of mortality: a pooled analysis of twelve cohorts') (2023)
• A follow on paper exploring the prognostic value of MUAC, WAZ and WHZ for predicting deaths over periods of one, three and six months follow up ('Prognostic value of different anthropometric indices over different measurement intervals to predict mortality in 6–59-month-old children') (2023)
• A secondary data analysis examining anthropometric deficits and associated risk of death by age and sex ('Anthropometric deficits and the associated risk of death by age and sex in children aged 6-59 month: A meta-analysis') (2022)
• Development of a research protocol - ‘Bringing new evidence on undernutrition and mortality risk into practice: Protocol for a prospective cohort study' (2021)

Understanding how children with WaSt respond to treatment

• ‘How do children with severe underweight and wasting respond to treatment? A pooled secondary data analysis to inform future intervention studies’ (2023)

Examining sex differences in wasting and stunting

• ‘Boys are more likely to be undernourished than girls: a systematic review and meta-analysis of sex differences in undernutrition’ (2020)
• ‘Changing sex differences in undernutrition of African children: findings from Demographic and Health Surveys’ (2021)
• ‘Understanding Sex Differences in Childhood Undernutrition: A Narrative Review’ (2022)

Reviewing the evidence and identifying gaps on wasting prevention

• 'The Current State of Evidence and Thinking on Wasting Prevention' (2018)
• 'Prevention of child wasting: Results of a Child Health (2020) 
• 'Best practice in preventing child wasting within the wider context of undernutrition' (2021)

Reference this page

Wasting and Stunting: Evidence Generation. www.ennonline.net/wasting-stunting-evidence-generation

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