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7 Discussion
This document summarizes data from the Demographic and Health Surveys collected from 2000
to 2011 on deprivation in five areas: food, water and sanitation, health, shelter, and education. For each
African country the prevalence of children’s exposure to each type of vulnerability was described. We
also determined the extent to which children’s exposure to each type of vulnerability differed in each
country by the child’s sex and urban or rural residence as well as the sex and age of the household head.
7.1 Food Deprivation
Wasting. The data revealed no major sex disparities related to wasting in sub-Saharan Africa.
There was a lower prevalence of wasting for children in urban areas than in rural areas, however. Such
disparities were most pronounced in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Namibia, and Nigeria. Overall, the wasting
prevalence did not vary by the sex and age of the household head in these sub-Saharan African countries.
The most important progress in reducing the prevalence of wasting, gauged in terms of percentage points,
took place in Burkina Faso (5 percentage point reduction) and Zimbabwe (4 percentage point reduction).
The opposite situation occurred in Mali and Nigeria—increases of about three percentage points.
Stunting. In every country the prevalence of stunting among children less than age 5 was higher
for males and children in rural areas than for females and children in urban areas. The sex of the
household head played an important but inconsistent role in the prevalence of stunting. While the stunting
prevalence was at least one percentage point higher for children living with a male household head in 8
countries, it was at least one percentage point higher for children living with a female household head in
11 countries. The age of the household head also made a difference—again, an inconsistent difference—
to the prevalence of stunting. In seven countries the prevalence of stunting was at least one percentage
point higher for children living with a household head age 50 or older. In 12 countries the inverse was
true. Overall, sub-Saharan Africa experienced a decrease in the prevalence of stunting. The highest
reductions, at least seven percentage points, occurred in Ethiopia and Zambia.
Underweight. In every country the prevalence of underweight was higher for males and children
in rural areas than for females and children in urban areas. Lesotho experienced the largest disparity by
sex—19% for male children and 14% for female children. Niger had the most pronounced geographic
disparity—27% in urban areas and 47% in rural areas. In one-third of these sub-Saharan African
countries, the prevalence of underweight was higher for children living with a female household head
than for children living with a male household head. In half of the countries the underweight prevalence
was higher for children living with a household head at least 50 years of age. Every country (with the
exception of Kenya) experienced a decrease in the prevalence of underweight during the last 13 years.
7.2 Health Deprivation
Expanded program on immunization. Overall, the percentages of children who did not receive
any of the eight EPI vaccines were similar among boys and girls in these countries. In every country
except Burundi, the percentage of children who had not received any of the EPI vaccines was higher in
rural areas than in urban areas. In 14 of the 23 countries included in this report, the percentage of children
who had not received any of the EPI vaccines was lower for children living with a female household head
than for children living with a male household head. As for age of head of household, in 17 countries the
percentage of children who had not received any of the EPI vaccines was higher for individuals living
with a household head who was at least 50 years of age than for children living with a younger head of
household. With the exception of Zambia (31 percentage point increase) and Benin (4 percentage point
increase), every country in the study demonstrated a reduction in the percentage of children who had not
received any of the EPI vaccines.
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