Recent evidence from Peru suggests that children who were stunted as a result of the 2008 food crisis may have in fact recovered from what was once thought to be an irreversible condition. The group Young Lives has tracked the progress of 12,000 Peruvian children and found that around 59 percent who were stunted in 2002 when they were approximately one year old, were not stunted in 2009. The findings indicate that factors like household income, maternal education and health, local water, sanitation and health infrastructure, which are key to stunting prevention, are also important for recovery from stunting.
The Guardian, October 2014