Stunting as a Synonym of Social Disadvantage and Poor Parental Education.

Socially, economically, politically and emotionally (SEPE) disadvantaged children are shorter than children from affluent background. In view of previous work on the lack of association between nutrition and child growth, we performed a study in urban schoolchildren. We measured 723 children (5.

Correction: Stunting is not a synonym of malnutrition.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Stunting is not a synonym of malnutrition.

Background: WHO 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.