Nonviolent civil insecurity is negatively associated with subsequent height-for-age in children aged <5 y born between 1998 and 2014 in rural areas of Africa.

Exposure to both violent and nonviolent civil insecurity had negative associations with subsequent HAZ, but only in rural areas. The associations found were small in magnitude but still meaningful from a child-development perspective, because these events do not necessarily occur in the context of official wars, they are often nonviolent, and they are endemic to the region.