| Description |
Malnutrition is one of the most important health and welfare problems among infants and young children in Rwanda. It is a result of both inadequate food intake and illness. Inadequate food intake is a consequence of insufficient food available at the household level, improper feeding practices, or both. Improper feeding practices include both the quality and quantity of foods offered to young children as well as the timing of their introduction. Poor sanitation puts young children at increased risk of illness, in particular diarrheal disease, which adversely affects their nutritional status. Both inadequate food intake and poor environmental sanitation reflect underlying social and economic conditions.
Malnutrition has significant health and economic consequences, the most serious of which is an increased risk of death. Other outcomes include an increased risk of illness and a lower level of cognitive development, which results in lower educational attainment. In adulthood, the accumulated effects of long-term malnutrition can be a reduction in workers’ productivity and increased absenteeism in the workplace; these may reduce a person’s lifetime earning potential and ability to contribute to the national economy. Furthermore, malnutrition can result in adverse pregnancy outcomes.
The data presented here are from the 2000 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (RDHS 2000), a nationally representative survey of 10,206 households, requested by the Rwandan Ministry of Health and conducted by the National Population Office (ONAPO). ORC Macro provided technical assistance through its MEASURE DHS+ program. Financial Assistance was provided by the U.S. Agency for International development (USAID), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Of the 8,188 children age 0-59 months who were part of the study, 6,490 are alive and have complete anthropometric data and are therefore included in the nutrition analyses. Unless otherwise noted, all analyses include only children who reside with their mother. Nutritional data collected on these children include height, weight, age, breastfeeding history, and feeding patterns. Information was also collected on the prevalence of diarrhea and acute respiratory infection (ARI) in the two weeks prior to the survey and on relevant sociodemographic characteristics. For comparison, data are presented from Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in other sub-Saharan countries. |
