Understanding the Rapid Reduction of Undernutrition in Nepal, 2001-2011

Abstract

South Asia has long been synonymous with unusually high rates of undernutrition. In the past decade, however, Nepal has arguably achieved the fastest recorded decline in child stunting in the world and has done so in the midst of civil war and post-conflict political instability. Given recent interest in reducing undernutrition –particularly the role of nutrition-sensitive policies – this paper aims to quantitatively understand this surprising success story by analyzing the 2001, 2006, and 2011 rounds of Nepal’s Demographic Health Surveys. This research is supported by the Department for International Development’s Transform Nutrition Programme which is led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)