Malnutrition in the Mountains of Northern Haiti

Socio-economic and environmental factors that influence growth patterns in Haitian children

“…American height and weight standards to assess degree of malnutrition, primarily the Boston and National Center for Health Statistics/Center for Disease Control {NCHS/CDC) standards. Comparisons to North American standards became common after many researchers observed that economically privileged children in Haiti displayed growth patterns which matched their North American counterparts (Brown et al 1976;King et al 1963). Amadee made a conversion of the Jelliffes' results to Boston standards and determined that the Jamaican standards are approximately 20 percent lower {A.madee et al 1976) .…”

“…Although some research studies have found no significant correlation between children's anthropometric measurements and family income (Kennedy 1983), Smith (1978) found that economic variables as a group had the most significant impact on children's growth. However, rather than highlighting total household income as a primary health influence, money spent on food was a greater factor impacting children ' s weight measurements (Graham 1972;Smith et al 1983 (Brown et al 1976).…”

“…Smith's 1978 regression analysis showed that household size did have a negative impact on children's weight for age growth, but this relation dissolved when economic variables were included in the analysis. Hamilton Brown described a higher percentage of malnourished children as family size rose to 6, but found a slight nutritional improvement in larger households, perhaps attributable to the income earning power of older children and multiple adults (Brown et al 1976).…”

“…Unfortunately, Haiti has a high illiteracy rate, estimated anywhere from greater than 75 percent for those over 10 (Allman 1985), up to 93 percent for the entire population (Brown et al 1976) . Schooling is available for only a small proportion of children and attendance is irregular due to illness, transportation barriers and family production responsibilities.…”