Table 1.

Data abstraction table

Author and Year	Country	Study Design	Study Population and Sample Size	Policy/intervention type	Length of intervention/ policy	Stunting reduction (yes/no)	Impact on stunting	Economic indicators	Impact on economic indicators
Amouzou, A. et al., 2012 [32]	Niger	Case Study	Children under 5 in Niger n = N/A	Multisectoral programmes and policies focused on maternal, newborn and child health	On-going since 1996	Yes	Decrease in stunting prevalence for children aged 24–35 months from 67 to 54% in 2009 (13% reduction)	Childhood mortality	5.1% annual reduction in U5MR with 10% of this reduction attributed to reductions in stunting prevalence.
Huicho, L. et al., 2016 [37]	Peru		Children under 5 in Peru n = N/A	Policies and programmes for reducing poverty, reforming the health sector, and improving reproductive health, nutrition and maternal and child health.	On-going since 2005	Yes	Stunting prevalence decreased from 30% in 2000 to 17.5% in 2013 Calculate % reduction		Under 5 mortality decreased by 58% (from 2000 to 2013).
Kanyuka, M. et al., 2016 [29]	Malawi		Children under 5 in Malawin = N/A	Policies, programmes and funding allocation that aimed to increase coverage of high-impact interventions that addressed the main causes of childhood mortality	On-going since 1990’s	Yes	Stunting deceased by 11.1% between 2000 and 2013		Under 5 mortality fell from 247 deaths/1000 livebirths to 71/1000 from 1990 to 2013 with 8.6% of this reduction attributed to reductions in stunting prevalence.
Ruducha, J., 2017 [26]	Ethiopia		Children under 5 in Ethiopia n = N/A	Policies and programmes for reducing poverty and improving agricultural productivity, food security, water supply, and sanitation.	On-going since before 2000’s	Yes	Stunting prevalence decreased from almost 60% in 2000 to 40% in 2014 (20% decrease)		Under 5 mortality decreased from 205 deaths/1000 livebirths in 1990 to 64 deaths/1000 livebirths in 2013 with 44% for this reduction attributed to reductions in stunting prevalence.
Andersen, T. et al., 2015 [38]	Peru	Prospective cohort study	Children 7–8 in Peru n = 1960	Conditional Cash Transfer programme (CCT) “Juntos”	On-going since 2005	Yes	Only in boys exposed to CCT for 2y or more: 0.43-point increase in HAZ score [95% CI: 0.09–0.77], p < 0.01)	Language development and school achievement	No significant effects observed.
Fernald, L.C.H. et al., 2008 [39]	Mexico	Retrospective cohort study	Children 24–68 months old who were exposed to “Opportunidades” their whole lives n = 2449 children	Conditional Cash Transfer programme “Opportunidades”	On-going since 1998	Yes	Doubled cash transfer associated with: 0.2 [95%CI: 0.09–0.30], p < 0.0001) increase in HAZ score, 10% 0(p < 0.0001) decrease in stunting	Cognitive, motor and language development	Doubled cash transfer associated with: 0.06 (p = 0.67) points higher in motor skill and 1.15 (p = 0.001) higher in endurance; 0.12 (p = 0.002) point higher in long-term memory, 0.13 (p < 0.0001) points higher in short-term memory and 0.08 (p = 0.02) point higher in visual integration;: 0.18 (p < 0.0001) higher language score
Fernald, L.C.H. et al., 2009 [40]	Mexico	Retrospective cohort study	Children 8–10 years who were part of an early vs. late (18 mo. difference) introduction to Conditional Cash Transfer programme “Opportunidades” n = 1793	Conditional Cash Transfer programme “Opportunidades”	On-going since 1998	Yes	Additional 18 mo. Of CCT for children of uneducated mothers: 1.5 cm (p = 0.029) increase in HAZ/ 0.23-point HAZ increase (95% CI = 0.23–0.44)	Cognitive, language and socioemotional development	Early vs. late treatment: Reduced behavioural problems (mean score − 0·09 vs. 1·03 (p = 0·0024)
Hoddinnott, J. et al., 2008	Guatemala	Retrospective Cohort Study	Adults 25–42 exposed to supplementation trial from ages 0 to 7 n = 1338	nutritional supplementation (protein supplementation beverage “atole”)	8 years	Yes	- Stunting to < 20% (from baseline of 45%) -2.4 cm (p < 0.005) increase in length of children at 3 years of age	Annual income, hours worked, average hourly wages	For exposure at 0–24 months only: 0.665 US$/h (p = 0.009) higher
Hoddinott, J. et al., 2013	Guatemala	Retrospective cohort study	Adults 25–42 exposed to supplementation trial from ages 0 to 7 n = 1338	Nutritional supplementation (protein supplementation beverage “atole”)	8 years	Yes	- Stunting to < 20% (from baseline of 45%)-2.4 cm (p < 0.005) increase in length of children at 3 years of age	Schooling-related outcomes, health outcomes, labor market outcomes	1 SD improvement in HAZ leads to: 0.78 (p = 0.003) increase in highest grade attained, 0.28 (p = 0.003) increase in reading score, 0.25 increase in non-verbal cognitive ability (0.002); 5 (p = 0.003) increase in hand strengthBeing stunted at 24 mo. leads to: leaving school 3.14 (p = 0.026) years younger, Achieving 4.64 (p = 0.004) less school grades, 1.26 (0.013) lower reading score, 1.12 (p = 0.006) lower nonverbal cognitive ability score, 22 point (p = 0.008) lower hand strength, 41% (0.017) lower likelihood of being skilled laborer or white collar worker
Kinra, S. et al., 2008 [41]	India	Retrospective cohort study	13–18 year-old adolescents who were part of nutrition and public health intervention as children (under 6 years old) n = 1165 adolescents	Nutritional supplementation (protein-calorie supplementation) and public health programmes	3 years	Yes	In exposed to intervention: 14 mm (p = 0.07) taller	Cardiovascular health	20% (p = 0.02) more favorable insulin resistance index, 3.3% (P = 0.008) more favorable arterial health
Nkhoma, O.W.W. et al., 2013 [30]	Malawi	Prospective cohort study	6–8-year-old children in Malawi n = 226 children	School feeding program (increased micronutrient and caloric intake)	1 year	No	No significant effects on linear growth in comparison to control school	Cognitive ability	After 9-month exposure to supplement: decrease in errors made in one element of learning from 24.9 in control to 18.5 in intervention (p-interaction = 0.02)
Stein, A.D. et al., 2008 [36]	Guatemala	Prospective cohort study	Adults 25–42 exposed to supplementation trial from ages 0 to 7 n = 1448	Nutritional supplementation (protein supplementation beverage “atole”)	8 years	Yes	- Stunting to < 20% (from baseline of 45%) -2.4 cm (p < 0.005) increase in length of children at 3 years of age	Reading comprehension, cognitive functioning	Exposure to supplement 0–12 mo.:6.39 [95%CI: 0.79–11.99] increase in reading comprehension score, 2.09 [95%CI: 0.79–3.99] increase in cognitive functioning score.
Argaw, A. et al., 2018 [27]	Ethiopia	2 × 2 factorial randomized controlled trial	Mothers and their children ages 6–12 months in 3 districts of the Jimma zone in Southwest Ethiopia between November 2013 to February 2015 n = 360 mother-infant pairs	Nutritional supplementation (n-3 long-chain PUFA supplementation)	12 months	No	No significant effect of the supplementation was observed on linear growth.	Child health	No significant effect on morbidity or systemic inflammation.
van der Merwe, L.F. et al., 2013 [31]	Gambia	Randomized, double-blind control trial	Rural Gambian infants (3–9 months old) n = 172	Nutritional supplementation (long-chain PUFA supplementation)	6 months	No	No significant effect of the supplementation was observed on linear growth.	Cognitive development and morbidity in the infants	No significant effects on cognitive development, intestinal function or morbidity were detected.
Yousafzai, A.K. et al., 2014 [42]	Pakistan	Cluster-randomised 2X2 factorial effectiveness trial	Children 0–24 months old n = 1489	Nutritional supplementation (multiple micronutrient powders)	3 years	Yes	Nutritional supplementation resulted in: 0.2 increase in HAZ score (p < 0.0001) at 6 mo. and 0.2 increase in HAZ score (p = 0.02) at 18 months.	Cognitive, language, motor and social-emotional development and child health	Nutritional supplementation resulted in: 3.4 higher cognition scores [95%CI: 1.1–5.7], 5.1 higher language scores [95%CI: 2.9–7.3], 2.9 higher motor score [95%CI: 0.5–5.3].
Samuel, A. et al., 2018 [28]	Ethiopia	Quasi-experimental matched-control study	Children 6–23 months old N = 1172	Nutritional supplementation (complementary feeding program paired with low iron dose multiple micronutrient powders)	37 weeks	Yes	Nutritional supplementation resulted in: 0.18 (SE: 0.05, p < 0.05) significant increase in HAZ score and an odds ratio (OR) for stunting of 0.49 [95% CI: 0.40–0.60] after 37 weeks of intervention (i.e. 51% reduced odds of stunting in the intervention group)	Child health	No significant positive effects observed on child health.
Masuda, K. & Chitundu, M., 2019 [33]	Zambia	Two-arm randomized control trial	Children 6–18 months of age N = 547	Nutritional supplementation (Micronutrient supplementation using spirulina platensis)	12 months	No	No significant effect on linear growth.	Child health and motor development	Nutritional supplementation resulted in: Reduction in the incidence of cough by 11% [95% CI : -0.23–0.00] and non-significant reductions in incidence of pneumonia (−0.17, [95% CI: −0.17,0.04]), severe fever (− 0.03, 95% CI = − 0.13, 0.06) and fever (− 0.09, [95% CI: − 0.19, 0.02]) Increase in probability of being able to walk alone by 15 months by 8% [95%CI : 0.02–0.14]