Literature review for - Flourish Paediatrics

WHO Global health risks: mortality and burden of disease attributable to selected
major risks. WHO Geneva 2009 ISBN 978 92 4 156387 1
This document is an update of previous WHO analysis of the global burden of disease and
risks. The data base is updated to include 2004 data.
Pg. v (summary)
“A total of 10.4 million children died in 2004, mostly in low- and middle-income countries.
An estimated 39% of these deaths (4.1 million) were caused by micronutrient deficiencies,
underweight, suboptimal breastfeeding and preventable environmental risks. Most of these
preventable deaths occurred in the WHO African Region (39%) and the South-East Asia
Region (43%)”.
The main changes in the 2004 estimates are as follows:
Risk factor exposure estimates were revised if new estimates were available. For some risk
factors (see Annex A) previously estimated population exposures were used.
Where a recent peer-reviewed meta-analysis was available, relative risks from the 2000 CRA
analysis were updated. Likewise, some minor revisions to methods based on peer-reviewed
publications from WHO programmes or collaborating academic groups were incorporated
and are explained in Annex A.
Two additional risk factors have been included: suboptimal breastfeeding and high blood
glucose, based on published peer-reviewed work.
Pg. 9
In low-income countries, relatively few risks are responsible for a large percentage of the
high number of deaths and loss of healthy years. These risks generally act by increasing the
incidence or severity of infectious diseases. The leading risk factor for low-income countries
is underweight, which represents about 10% of the total disease burden. In combination,
childhood underweight, micronutrient deficiencies (iron, vitamin A and zinc) and suboptimal
breastfeeding cause 7% of deaths and 10% of total disease burden. The combined burden
from these nutritional risks is almost equivalent to the entire disease and injury burden of
high-income countries.
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