Précis of Nutrition of Children and Women in Haiti: Analyses of Data from 1995 to 2012
- The 2012 Haiti Demographic and Health Survey found 11.4% underweight, 21.9% stunting and 5.1% wasting among children under five, statistically significantly lower than in 2005 to 2006.
- Stunting fell from 33.6% to 24.8% in rural areas and from 18.6% to 15.5% in urban areas between 2005 to 2006 and 2012.
- Exclusive breastfeeding among children 0 to 5 months rose sharply from 1.1% in 1994 to 1995 to 22.4% in 2000 and 41.2% in 2005 to 2006.
- Anemia among young Haitian children is a severe public health problem with multiple determinants.
- Major progress was made since 2010 in making care available to children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and the challenge is for public institutions to sustain these services.
Mohamed Ag Ayoya and colleagues from the UNICEF country office, Cornell University and the Nutrition Unit of the Ministry of Health and Population published this précis in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, volume 1309 (2014). It uses four nationally representative surveys conducted between 1995 and 2012 together with published studies and unpublished field data to examine eight questions, including the trends and determinants of child nutritional status, infant feeding, micronutrient deficiencies, severe acute malnutrition, women's nutrition and anemia, community-based early child care and nutrition governance.
The 2012 Haiti Demographic and Health Survey found 11.4% underweight, 21.9% stunting and 5.1% wasting among children under five, statistically significantly lower than the 2005 to 2006 figures of 18.1%, 29.7% and 10.1%. The authors report important recent progress in the governance of nutrition programs and in child and maternal nutrition indicators, and conclude that anemia among young Haitian children is a severe public health problem.
How to cite
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2014, Précis of Nutrition of Children and Women in Haiti: Analyses of Data from 1995 to 2012, https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12373
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