This paper investigates the relationship between livestock ownership and child nutrition in Uganda by using a panel household survey. The analysis focuses on linear growth, as growth in height/length reveals the cumulative nutritional status of a child up to his current age. Three linear growth measures are assessed: besides the standard height-for-age z-scores, we analyse the height-for-age differences, more appropriate for a dynamic evaluation of the growth trend across ages, and growth velocity, that is usually used in clinical studies, but less frequently available in large socio-economic datasets in low-income countries. The results presented do point to a positive effect of livestock ownership on child nutrition, with different effects according to child age and animal species. Large ruminants seem to affect relatively more nutrition of older children, while small ruminants attenuate child growth faltering as they are more associated to the initial height trajectory, while poultry has a positive effect on growth, which is usually considered as a more responsive measure of child nutrition. Finally, the role of livestock ownership in sustaining linear growth seems to be crucial when households living in remote areas have a limited access to purchased foods and livestock becomes the only source of certain nutrients. Acknowledgement :