TY - JOUR
T1 - Pre-earthquake national patterns of preschool child undernutrition and household food insecurity in Nepal in 2013 and 2014
AU - Shrestha, Sudeep
AU - Thorne-Lyman, Andrew L.
AU - Manohar, Swetha
AU - Shrestha, Binod
AU - Neupane, Sumanta
AU - Rajbhandary, Ruchita
AU - Shrestha, Raman
AU - Klemm, Rolf D.W.
AU - Nonyane, Bareng A.S.
AU - Adhikari, Ramesh K.
AU - Webb, Patrick
AU - West, Keith P.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, HEC Press.
PY - 2018/5/1
Y1 - 2018/5/1
N2 - Background and Objectives: Preschool undernutrition remains a burden in Nepal. This paper reports results of surveys in 2013 and 2014, examining patterns of child nutritional status across the country, associations with household food insecurity and antecedent comparative national data for subsequent evaluations of nutritional sta-tus following the earthquake in Nepal in 2015. Methods and Study Design: A multi-stage sample was drawn comprising 21 sites in 75 districts of the country, representing the mountains, hills and Terai zones, providing proportionate to zonal samples of 4286 and 4947 households and 5401 and 5474 preschool children in each year, respectively. Children 6 to 59 months of age were measured for weight and height, expressed as standardized z-scores for height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-height (WHZ), and stunting and wasting (<-2 z for each). The household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS) was used to measure food security. Results: Between 2013 and 2014, HAZ decreased from a mean (SD) of -1.46 (1.39) to -1.54 (1.33) z-scores, while the prevalence of stunting increased from 35.5% to 37.4% (p<0.05 for both), evident in the mountains and Terai but not hills. In both years, wasting was highest (~22%) in the Terai versus mountains or hills (~8%). More households were classified food secure in 2014 (73%) than 2013 (59%), evident in all zones. Conclusions: Two midyear surveys in Nepal re-vealed a stable nutritional situation among preschool children, reflecting a pause in the long-term decline in stunt-ing noted in previous years. The same period saw a slight reduction in wasting and improved household food se-curity.
AB - Background and Objectives: Preschool undernutrition remains a burden in Nepal. This paper reports results of surveys in 2013 and 2014, examining patterns of child nutritional status across the country, associations with household food insecurity and antecedent comparative national data for subsequent evaluations of nutritional sta-tus following the earthquake in Nepal in 2015. Methods and Study Design: A multi-stage sample was drawn comprising 21 sites in 75 districts of the country, representing the mountains, hills and Terai zones, providing proportionate to zonal samples of 4286 and 4947 households and 5401 and 5474 preschool children in each year, respectively. Children 6 to 59 months of age were measured for weight and height, expressed as standardized z-scores for height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-height (WHZ), and stunting and wasting (<-2 z for each). The household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS) was used to measure food security. Results: Between 2013 and 2014, HAZ decreased from a mean (SD) of -1.46 (1.39) to -1.54 (1.33) z-scores, while the prevalence of stunting increased from 35.5% to 37.4% (p<0.05 for both), evident in the mountains and Terai but not hills. In both years, wasting was highest (~22%) in the Terai versus mountains or hills (~8%). More households were classified food secure in 2014 (73%) than 2013 (59%), evident in all zones. Conclusions: Two midyear surveys in Nepal re-vealed a stable nutritional situation among preschool children, reflecting a pause in the long-term decline in stunt-ing noted in previous years. The same period saw a slight reduction in wasting and improved household food se-curity.
KW - Household food insecurity
KW - Malnutrition
KW - National survey
KW - Nepal
KW - Nutrition surveillance
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U2 - 10.6133/apjcn.092017.04
DO - 10.6133/apjcn.092017.04
M3 - Article
C2 - 29737810
AN - SCOPUS:85046711040
SN - 0964-7058
VL - 27
SP - 624
EP - 637
JO - Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition
JF - Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition
IS - 3
ER -