[ad_1]
[NAIROBI] Children living in high-altitude areas are at increased risk of stunting, highlighting the need for health policies that are tailored to life in mountainous regions of the world, according to a study.
According to estimates by the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization and the World Bank, in 2019, around 52 million children under the age of five were stunted in sub-Saharan Africa.
Stunting affects an estimated 155 million children (23% of children) under the age of five worldwide and is associated with an increased risk of mortality, cognitive deficits and developmental deficits that make them more vulnerable to disease chronic in adulthood, researchers say.
“Policy makers and public health professionals must pay attention to pregnancy and child growth at higher altitudes.”
Kaleab Baye, Addis Ababa University
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last month (August 24), offers new insights into the connection between altitude and malnutrition, advocating for policies tailored to high-altitude contexts.
“The study found that children residing at higher altitudes were born, on average, lower and remained on a lower growth trajectory than children residing at lower altitudes,” says Kaleab Baye, lead study author and teacher. associate at Addis Ababa University. SciDev.Net.
The study suggests that specific care and health care guidance is needed to manage pregnancy and early childhood development in high-altitude settings.
“Failure to address altitude-mediated growth deficits can result in a significant proportion of the world’s population failing to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and the World Health Assembly nutrition targets,” the study says.
Baye says that children residing in “ideal home settings” grew at the same rate as the average child in the 2006 WHO growth standard, but their growth changed from about 500 meters above sea level.
An ideal home environment includes access to clean water and sanitation, parents who have a television or a car, mothers who receive an education, and babies born in a hospital, according to the study.
“After 500 meters above sea level, a child’s average height for age deviated significantly from the growth curve of the average child in the 2006 WHO reference population,” he explains.
Baye says the study identified the weeks immediately before and after birth as the most vulnerable period for children living at high altitudes, as pregnancies are complicated by chronic suboptimal oxygen supply, putting the fetus at risk for limited growth.
The causes of stunting in Ethiopia and throughout sub-Saharan Africa include poor diets, water, poor sanitation and hygiene, poverty, food insecurity, and inadequate health and care services, according to Baye.
The researchers analyzed 133 national demographic and health surveys from 59 low- and middle-income countries, conducted between 1992 and 2018. This accounted for nearly a million height measurements in 96,552 groups at altitudes ranging from 372 meters below sea level. up to almost 6000 meters above sea level. level.
Baye says SciDev.Net that some 288 million people in Africa live at altitudes above 1,500 meters above sea level.
“From sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda are among the countries that have the largest number of their population living above 1,500 meters above sea level,” he says.
“Policy makers and public health professionals must pay attention to pregnancy and child growth at higher altitudes.”
Mercy Lung’aho, a nutritionist with the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, says that stunting negatively impacts cognitive development, which ultimately affects the income potential of adults and the economy.
“For example, the cost of malnutrition in Ethiopia equals 16.1% of the country’s gross domestic product,” he says.
Nutrition interventions from health and other sectors, such as agriculture, social protection and education, must work together to tackle malnutrition in Africa, adds Lung’aho.
The findings of the study, he explains, point to the need to improve the targeting of child health and nutrition programs, considering the specific vulnerabilities of populations and addressing inequities in child health in all settings, especially where altitude is a factor. consideration.
This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.
References
Kaleab Baye et al. Evaluation of linear growth at higher altitudes (Journal of the American Medical Association, August 24, 2020)
[ad_2]
