LEVELS AND TRENDS IN CHILD MALNUTRITION · UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group - Joint Child Malnutrition...
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LEVELS AND TRENDS IN CHILD MALNUTRITION 156 MILLION Stunting rates are dropping but 156 million children under 5 around the world were still affected in 2015. 42 MILLION There were 42 million overweight children in the world in 2015 – an increase of about 11 million over the past 15 years. 50 MILLION In 2015, wasting continued to threaten the lives of 50 million children under 5 globally. UNICEF / WHO / World Bank Group Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates Key findings of the 2016 edition These new estimates supersede former analyses and results published by UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank Group.
Transcript of LEVELS AND TRENDS IN CHILD MALNUTRITION · UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group - Joint Child Malnutrition...
UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group - Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates 2016 edition 1
LEVELS AND TRENDS IN CHILD MALNUTRITION
156 MILLIONStunting rates are dropping but 156 million children under 5 around the world were still affected in 2015.
42 MILLIONThere were 42 million overweight children in the world in 2015 – an increase of about 11 million over the past 15 years.
50 MILLIONIn 2015, wasting continued to threaten the lives of 50 million children under 5 globally.
UNICEF / WHO / World Bank Group Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates
Key findings of the 2016 edition
These new estimates supersede former analyses and results published by UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank Group.
2 UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group - Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates 2016 edition
Notes on the 2016 edition of the joint malnutrition estimates
Forms of malnutrition* highlighted in this key findings report
Strengths and weaknesses of malnutrition data
Overweight and stunted
Stunted and wasted
In September 2016, UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group released joint child malnutrition estimates for the 1990 – 2015 period, representing the most recent global and regional figures.
This key findings report summarizes the new numbers and main messages. Additional materials, including (i) the latest country-level joint malnutrition dataset; and, (ii) interactive dashboards, which allow users to visualize and export the global and regional estimates, are available at the following websites:
UNICEF<uni.cf/jmedashboard>
Stunting refers to a child who is too short for his or her age. Stunting is the failure to grow both physically and cognitively and is the result of chronic or recurrent malnutrition. The devastating effects of stunting can last a lifetime.
Overweight refers to a child who is too heavy for his or her height. This form of malnutrition results from expending too few calories for the amount of food consumed and increases the risk of noncommunicable diseases later in life.
Wasting refers to a child who is too thin for his or her height. Wasting, or acute malnutrition, is the result of recent rapid weight loss or the failure to gain weight. A child who is moderately or severely wasted has an increased risk of death, but treatment is possible.
* Some children suffer from more than one form of malnutrition – such as stunting and overweight or stunting and wasting. There are currently no joint estimates for these combined conditions.
Prevalence estimates for stunting and overweight are relatively robust. It is therefore possible to track global and regional changes in these two conditions over time.
The global and regional estimates presented here are based on data from national household surveys. These data are collected infrequently and measure malnutrition at one point in time (e.g. during several months of field work), making it difficult to capture the rapid fluctuations in wasting that can occur over the course of a given year. Incidence data (i.e. the number of new cases that occur during the calendar year) would allow for better tracking of changes over time; however, these data currently do not exist.
Wasting and severe wasting are acute conditions that can change frequently and rapidly. This makes it difficult to generate reliable trends over time, and as such, this report provides only most recent (2015) global and regional estimates.
WHO<www.who.int/nutgrowthdb/estimates>
World Bank Group<data.worldbank.org/child-malnutrition>
UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group - Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates 2016 edition 3
Global overview
Number of stunted, overweight and wasted children under 5, in millions, global, 2000– 2015
Percentage of stunted, overweight and wasted children under 5, global, 2000– 2015
In 2015, more than half of all stunted children under 5 lived in Asia and more than one third lived in Africa.
In 2015, almost half of all overweight children under 5 lived in Asia and one quarter lived in Africa.
In 2015, more than two thirds of all wasted children under 5 lived in Asia and more than one quarter lived in Africa.
Asia 56% Asia 48% Asia 68%Africa 37% Africa 25% Africa 28%
156
169182
0
50
100
150
200
2015201020052000
198
3742
3331
Nu
mb
er (
mill
ion
s)
198
50
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
2015201020052000
5.1 6.2
7.4
32.7
23.2Per
cen
tag
e
stunting overweight wasting
95% confidence interval
Malnutrition rates remain alarming: stunting is declining too slowly while overweight continues to rise
Africa and Asia bear the greatest share of all forms of malnutrition
Source: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank Group joint malnutrition estimates, 2016 edition.
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Africa Latin Americaand Caribbean
Asia* Oceania**
2015
2010
2005
2000
2015
2010
2005
2000
2015
2010
2005
2000
2015
2010
2005
2000
38
32
38
24
4
37
5
9
9
7
18
117
5 6 68
38
9
1
Per
cent
age
stunting overweight wasting 95% confidence interval
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Regional overview: prevalence
Two out of four regions have experienced slow progress for stunting reductionsPercentage of stunted, overweight and wasted children under 5, by United Nations region, 2000 – 2015
Source: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank Group – Joint Malnutrition Estimates, 2016 edition. Note: *Asia excluding Japan; **Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand.
Africa has made only limited progress on stunting since 2000 compared with other regions
Progress for stunting within Asia have been uneven since 2000
More data are needed to generate reliable estimates for Oceania
Progress in Latin America and Caribbean is aligned with global goals
Both Asia and Latin America and Caribbean have cut stunting rates by over one third since 2000 while Africa saw a reduction of only one sixth during the same period.
Stunting rates in Eastern Asia have dropped by more than two thirds since 2000, compared with Southern Asia, where stunting declined by less than one third during the same period.
Based on available data, stunting rates in Oceania have been stagnant for the past 15 years, while rates of overweight have nearly doubled. However, confidence intervals are very large.
Improvements in malnutrition in the region are encouraging. Continued vigilance will be needed to maintain success and avoid an increase in child overweight.
ON TRACK
Africa Asia Eastern AsiaSouthern AsiaLAC-69%-17% -30%-39%-36%
Africa Asia Eastern AsiaSouthern AsiaLAC-69%-17% -30%-39%-36%
UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group - Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates 2016 edition 5
Sub-regional overview: prevalence 2015
Source: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank Group joint malnutrition estimates, 2016 edition.Note: *Eastern Asia excluding Japan; **Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand, *** Australia and New Zealand, regional average based on Australian data, ****Northern America regional average based on United States data. These maps are stylized and not to scale and do not reflect a position by UNICEF, WHO or World Bank Group on the legal status of any country or territory or the delimitation of any frontiers.
Percentage of stunted children under 5, by United Nations sub-region, 2015
Percentage of overweight children under 5, by United Nations sub-region, 2015
Percentage of wasted children under 5, by United Nations sub-region, 2015
Five sub-regions have stunting rates that exceed 30 per cent
In three sub-regions more than 10 per cent of children under 5 are overweight
The wasting rate in Southern Asia is approaching a critical public health emergency
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Regional overview: numbers affected
In Africa, the number of stunted children is risingNumber of stunted children under 5, by United Nations region, 2000 and 2015
Western Africa accounts for half of the stunting increase in Africa; there were 4 million more stunted children in Western Africa in 2015 than in 2000
The number of overweight children is on the rise in Africa and AsiaNumber of overweight children under 5, by United Nations region, 2000 and 2015
The majority of children under 5 suffering from wasting and severe wasting live in AsiaNumber of wasted and severely wasted children under 5, by United Nations region, 2015
The number of overweight children under 5 in Africa has increased by more than 50 per cent since 2000
Source: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank Group joint malnutrition estimates, 2016 edition. Note: *Asia excluding Japan; **Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
1602015
2000
Oceania**Latin Americaand Carribean
Asia*Africa
Num
ber
(mill
ions
)
-34%
-42%
16%
50.4 58.5 133.6 88.010.5 6.1 0.4 0.5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
402015
2000
Oceania**Latin Americaand Carribean
Asia*Africa
Num
ber
(mill
ions
) 41%
56%
6.8 10.5 14.2 20.1 3.9 3.9 0.1 0.1
33.9
11.90.70.2
0.10.04
14.1
4.3
Oceania**Latin America and CarribeanAsia* Africa
33.9 million children under 5 in Asia are wasted, of which
11.9 million are severely wasted
In Africa, 14.1 million children under 5 are wasted, of which 4.3 million are severely wasted
= 1 million moderately wasted = 1 million severely wasted
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Num
ber
(mill
ions
)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
1602015
2000
High-income*Upper-middle-income
Lower-middle-income
Low-income
-22%
-60%
8%
35.2 37.9 131.0 102.8 32.7 13.24.0 1.7
-57%
Country income groupings overview
Source: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank Group joint malnutrition estimates, 2016 edition.* High-income countries: low (<50 per cent) population coverage in all time periods. Note: At the time of printing Argentina was not classified by the World Bank’s income classification and was therefore not included in the estimates for any income group.
Source: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank Group joint malnutrition estimates, 2016 edition. *High-income countries: low (<50 per cent) population coverage in all time periods. Note: At the time of printing Argentina was not classified by the World Bank’s income classification and was therefore not included in the estimates for any income group.
stunting overweight wasting 95% confidence interval
0
10
20
30
40
50
60Low-income
2015
2010
2005
2000
8
47
37
3 4
Lower-middle-income
2015
2010
2005
2000
Upper-middle-income
2015
2010
2005
2000
High-income*
2015
2010
2005
2000
Per
cent
age
12
46
33
4 52
19
77 7 36 65
2
Upper-middle-income countries have more than halved their stunting rates since 2000Percentage of stunted, overweight and wasted children under 5, by country income classification, 2000 – 2015
Low-income countries are the only group with more stunted children today than 15 years agoNumber of stunted children under 5, by country income classification, 2000 and 2015
The number of overweight children has increased most rapidly in lower-middle-income countriesNumber of overweight children under 5, by country income classification, 2000 and 2015
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
402015
2000
High-income*Upper-middle-income
Lower-middle-income
Low-income
Num
ber
(mill
ions
) 60%
42%
2.6 3.610.2 16.3 11.8 12.5 3.4
5%
20%
4.0
Share of under-5 population, by country income grouping, 2015
Share of stunted children under 5 in 2015
66% of all stunted children live in lower-middle-income countries
24%of all stunted
children live in low-income
countries
1%of all stunted children live in high-income countries
9%of all stunted children live in upper-middle-income countries
High,12%
Lower-middle, 47%
Upper-middle, 26%
Low, 15%
While less than half of all children under 5 live in lower-middle-income countries, two thirds of all stunted children live there
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This brochure was prepared by: the Data and Analytics Section of the Division of Data, Research and Policy, UNICEF New York; the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, WHO Geneva; and the Development Data Group of the World Bank, Washington DC. September 2016.
Copyright © 2016 by the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization and World Bank GroupEmail: [email protected] data.unicef.org
Email: [email protected] www.who.int/nutrition
Email: [email protected] data.worldbank.org
