One planet one health: What about the kids?

Abstract

Humans in their increasing numbers and wealth are changing ecosystems through accelerated consumption of food, natural resources and energy which continue to cause significant damage to the planet. Using 'stunting in children' as a case study, we show how the traditional siloed (specialist) approaches have failed to reduce stunting world-wide. Despite significant effort, traditional approaches fail to appreciate the interconnectedness of the multiple factors that underpin stunting. We will not improve the lives of the millions of children living in poverty by doing the same things we have always done, rather we need to adopt approaches that recognise the interconnectedness of all the component parts and apply One Health methods designed to solve these intractable problems.