Reversing the Trend of Stunting in Sudan : Opportunities for Human Capital Development through Multisectoral Approaches

Stunting, measured using a height-for-age Z score [HAZ] and an indicator of chronic malnutrition, among 0?5-yearold Sudanese children has been on the rise?from 34 percent in 2010 to 38 percent in 2014. Although a multisectoral approach to tackling undernutrition may mask clarity and undermine specificity of sectors to prioritize, it can be a basis for designing evidenced-based and balanced multisectoral strategies to addressing stunting in Sudan. Overall, stunting is more prevalent in the early years of Sudanese children and among children from the poorest households and in rural areas where adequate access to the underlying drivers of nutrition also remains significantly low. Adequate access to nutrition drivers is strongly associated with a lower likelihood of being stunted. Among the nutrition drivers considered, adequate access to food security and care and health care (both individually and jointly) significantly lowers a child?s probability of being stunted. In rural areas and poor households where stunting rates are highest, prioritizing food security and access to adequate health care can contribute toward lowering stunting. Poverty remains a central feature of stunting in Sudan and a main source of inequalities in adequate access to nutrition drivers