Dr. Aryeh Stein emphasizes the critical importance of the first 1,000 days, a period of rapid growth when children are most vulnerable to inadequate nutrition. Socioeconomic factors are shown to heavily influence growth outcomes, with children from poorer households consistently shorter, both within and across countries. This episode discusses the need to address these inequities to ensure optimal growth for all. While measures like height-for-age and stunting effectively track population-level growth, should not be used clinically for individual diagnosis. Dr. Stein calls for targeted interventions to combat undernutrition in low-income countries and tackle the growing issue of overweight in middle-income nations.