The double burden of chronic malnutrition and overweight and obesity in Ecuadorian mothers and children, 1986-2012.

Chronic malnutrition in children <5 and overweight in children <5 and mothers 15-49 years represent a double burden of malnutrition in Ecuador. The phenomena differ in their effects, and, while the prevalence of stunting is declining in Ecuador as it is in many parts of the world, the problem of overweight and obesity has emerged in dramatic fashion, and currently represents an extraordinary challenge to public health.