Fig. 1

Vicious cycle of chronic undernutrition. Multiple factors contribute to chronic undernutrition in children. Enteric infections (with or without diarrhea) are key determinants of a child’s nutritional status, as they often lead to gut dysfunction with accompanying health issues listed in the figure. An optimal time for intervention is from conception until 2 years of age, a crucial time in child development [2]. A stunted child faces a high risk of life-long health consequences, which may be passed on to the next generation through poorly understood mechanisms. Health problems associated with the introduction of high calorie diet are marked with an asterisk. T2D type 2 diabetes, CVD cardiovascular diseases