Final Report (PDF, 2132K) - Measure DHS

Nutritional StatusNutritional status assessment is based on the concept that in a well-nourished population, therewill be a distribution of children of a given age with respect to height and weight. In terms of a particularindex (say, height-for-age), the distribution will approximate the normal curve. About 68.2 percent ofchildren will have a height-for-age within 1 standard deviation of the mean. About 13.6 percent will bebetween +1 and +2 standard deviations from the mean and another 13.6 percent between -1 and -2standard deviations from the mean. Finally, about 2.3 percent will be more than +2 standard deviationsfrom the mean and another 2.3 percent will be more than -2 standard deviations from the mean.The nutritional indices presented in this report are based on the WHO/CDC/NCHS referencepopulation (U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 1976). Thus, the children in Ondo Stateare classified into nutrition status categories in terms of the mean and standard deviation values of thatreference population. Four nutritional indices are presented in this report.Height-for-AgeHeight-for-age. A child who is 2 or more standarddeviations below the mean of the reference population isconsidered short for his/her age which could reflect thecumulative effect of chronic malnutrition. Such a childis referred to as "stunted".Weight-for-height. A child who is 2 or more standarddeviations below the mean of the reference population isconsidered thin which could reflect a recent episode ofillness resulting in acute malnutrition. Such a child isreferred to as "wasted".Height-for-age by weight-for-height. This index is across tabulation of the above two indices and canidentify a child who is both chronically and acutelymalnourished. A child who is 2 or more standarddeviations below the mean of the reference populationon both indices is considered severely malnourished.Weight-for-age. A child who is 2 or more standarddeviations below the mean of the reference populationcould reflect chronic malnutrition, a recent acute episodeof malnutrition or both. Thus, this index provides lessprecise information than the previously describedindices. Nevertheless, weight-for-age is reportedbecause it may be useful for comparison with other dataon the nutritional status of children in Ondo State.Table 6.11 shows the percent of children 6-36 months by various standard deviation categoriesfrom the mean of the reference population in terms of height-for-age. To make interpretation ofanthropometric data easier, the World Health Organisation has classified children whose height-for-age isbetween 2 and 3 standard deviations below the reference mean as moderately stunted and children whosebeight-for-age is 3 or more standard deviations below the reference mean as severely stunted. Table 6.11indicates that 19.5 percent are moderately stunted and 12.9 percent are severely stunted.67