<unk>  is a reduced growth rate in human development. It is a primary manifestation of malnutrition (or more precisely undernutrition) and recurrent infections, such as diarrhea and helminthiasis, in early childhood and even before birth, due to malnutrition during fetal development brought on by a malnourished mother. The definition of stunting according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is for the "height for age" value to be less than two standard deviations of the WHO Child Growth Standards median. As of 2012 an estimated 162 million children under 5 years of age, or 25%, were<unk> . More than 90% of the world's<unk>  children live in Africa and Asia, where respectively 36% and 56% of children are affected. Once established, stunting and its effects typically become permanent.<unk>  children may never regain the height lost as a result of stunting, and most children will never gain the corresponding body weight. Living in an environment where many people defecate in the open due to lack of sanitation, is an important cause of<unk>  in children, for example in India.
Stunted growth
Growth attenuation
Hypergraphia
Failure to thrive
Hyperdontia
Psychosocial short stature
Dwarfism
Constitutional growth delay