Eighteen in every 100 children aged below five are stunted or too short for their age, the latest data by the Kenya National Bureau of Standards shows.
This is an eight per cent decrease from 2014 when 26 per cent of children within the same age bracket were stunted.
The Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022 shows 12 in every 100 children from rich families are stunted compared to 28 in every 100 from poor families.
According to the World Health Organisation, stunting is the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation.
The KNBS report released on Monday shows the percentage of stunted children is higher in rural areas at 20 per cent compared to 12 per cent in urban areas.
The report further shows that Kilifi, West Pokot and Samburu, Meru and Kitui counties have the highest stunting rates at 37 per cent, 34 per cent, 31 per cent, and 25 per cent respectively.
Counties with the lowest percentage of stunted children are Kisumu and Garissa at nine per cent each), Murang’a at 10 per cent while Nairobi and Kirinyaga at 11 per cent each.
“The prevalence of stunting has declined from 40 per cent in 1993 to 18 per cent in 2022. The highest decline in stunting occurred between 2008 and 2009 (35 per cent) and 2022 (18 per cent),” the report shows.
According to the report, the prevalence of wasting and overweight have remained the same since 1993 at six per cent but dropped to four per cent in 2014 and three per cent in 2022.
“The percentage of children who are stunted is highest among those whose mothers have no education or primary education at 22 per cent each and lowest in children whose mothers have more than secondary education at nine per cent,” the report says.
The WHO says the most direct causes of stunting are inadequate nutrition (not eating enough or eating foods that lack growth-promoting nutrients) and recurrent infections or chronic diseases which cause poor nutrient intake, absorption or utilisation.
