Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in United States
United States: Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty was 0.4% in 2018. ▼ Falling
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in United States, 1991–2018
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of children under 5.
Analysis
In 2018, share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in United States stood at 0.4%. That is the lowest value across all 11 years on record.
That represents a change of down 71.4% on the previous year and down 42.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in United States peaked at 1.4% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 0.4%, in 2018.
United States ranks 95th of 96 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.
Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in United States, year by year
| Year | % of children under 5 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 0.8% | — |
| 2000 | 1.1% | +37.5% |
| 2002 | 0.8% | -27.3% |
| 2004 | 1.3% | +62.5% |
| 2006 | 0.7% | -46.2% |
| 2008 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 1.0% | +42.9% |
| 2012 | 0.5% | -50.0% |
| 2014 | 0.7% | +40.0% |
| 2016 | 1.4% | +100.0% |
| 2018 | 0.4% | -71.4% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 0.4% is below the median for high income countries, which is 2.8%, 14% of the median. (11 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.9% | 0.7% | 1.3% | 5 |
| 2010s | 0.8% | 0.4% | 1.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near United States
- 92 Turkey 1.5% compare
- 93 United Kingdom 0.6% compare
- 94 Chile 0.5% compare
- 95 South Korea 0.4% compare
More poverty & inequality data for United States
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 9 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.62 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 8,414 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 1 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 24.85 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 24.8% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in United States?
- Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty in United States was 0.4% in 2018, according to Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 1.4% in 2016.
- What is the lowest share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4% in 2018.
- How does United States rank for share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty?
- United States ranks 95th out of 96 countries with data for 2018.
- Is share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 42.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) - UNICEF, WHO, and World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of children who are underweight vs. share in extreme poverty. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Underweight children are those less than 5 years old, whose weight for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population. Extreme poverty is defined as living below the International Poverty Line of $3 per day.