Relationships between undernutrition prevalence among children and adult women at national and subnational level

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study is to analyze the relationships between undernutrition prevalence rates among children and adults, both at the level of countries and at the level of smaller geographical subunits within countries (districts, provinces). Results are considered of relevance for evaluation and proper usage of anthropometric information in poverty and food security assessment. Design: Anthropometric information on both children and adults, as reported in the Demographic and Health Surveys, has been the primary source of data. In addition, data published by WHO, FAO, and data from some country specific reports have been used. The final analysis is based on data from 289 subnational geographical units divided over 56 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Ordinary least squares has been used for regression analysis and F-tests for testing differences of variances. Results: At the level of countries, results reveal a strong positive relationship between undernutrition prevalence rates among children and adults. At the level of smaller geographical units, high levels of undernutrition in adult women are almost invariably associated with high levels of undernutrition in children. At the same time, however, low or intermediate levels of undernutrition among adult women are no guarantee that undernutrition levels among children are also low or moderate. Conclusion: At the level of countries, information on undernutrition prevalence in children can be considered a proximate of the overall nutritional and food security conditions in a country. At the level of smaller geographical units, relationships are less straightforward, and are hypothesized to depend, at least partially, on the relative importance of food and nonfood factors in the causation of undernutrition.

Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation during Pregnancy and Lactation in Low-to-Middle-Income Developing Country Settings: Impact on Pregnancy Outcomes

“…An analysis of survey data from 17 developing countries confirms a positive association between maternal education and nutritional status in children 3-23 months of age [20]. Poverty and food security conditions in a geographical location have a significant impact on maternal and child undernutrition [81]. Strong associations between malnutrition and monthly household income, current pregnancy status and lactation are seen, further indicating that poverty, pregnancy and lactation have an adverse effect on the nutritional status of women [82].…”

Cultural and Geographical Influences on Underweight Prevalence among Preschoolers in Ghana

“…As Taylor () observed, “health interventions fail to meet their goals when they fail to consider ‘culture's’ impact on health‐related behaviour” (Taylor , 970). Moreover, a number of studies in Kenya conclude that geographical variability influences malnutrition distribution among mothers and children and a better understanding of geographic determinants of health is important in low income countries (Nube ; Grace et al. ; Pawloski et al.…”

“…Child survival, intellectual development and productivity later in life are related to the nourishment children receive earlier in life (Gulati 2010;Thorne et al 2013). Undernutrition is the combined result of insufficient intake of food and recurrent infections and represents both acute and chronic malnutrition (Nube and Sonneveld 2005; Ghana Statistical Service [GSS] 2015) and has been widely examined in many preschool nutritional studies (Puckree et al 2011;McDonald et al 2012). Underweight is one of three important measures of undernutrition, and is defined as weight-for-age Z score <-2.0 referenced values of the 2006 World Health Organization (WHO) Multicentre Growth Reference population of well-nourished children (Matsuda-Inoguchi et al 2006;Singh et al 2009: Mondal, Biswas andBose 2012).…”

“…Yet, how societies conceptualize health and nutritional wellbeing are deeply rooted in culture (Priest et al 2012) and geography (Nube and Sonneveld 2005) and may well explain undernutrition in many African countries. Aubel (2012) observes that while geography provides the context for a wider association between availability, accessibility and diversity of food, families are embedded in cultural systems that undoubtedly influence children's nutritional outcome and overall health.…”

“…Physical geographic factors such as climatic conditions and vegetation may adversely impact agriculture and food security and lead to undernutrition in vulnerable populations (Jankowska et al 2012). Nube and Sonneveld (2005) suggest that regional characteristics and national policies combined with other circumstances to explain undernutrition causation or prevention in Africa.…”