Stagnant Stunting Rate Despite Rapid Economic Growth in Papua New Guinea

Maternal and child undernutrition is a pervasive and detrimental condition in Papua New Guinea. Despite rapid economic growth during the past decade, the stunting rate for children under 5, one of the primary indicators for child undernutrition, was estimated at 46 percent in Papua New Guinea in 2010, stagnant from 44 percent in 2005. This paper analyzes the association between the demographic, socioeconomic, environmental, and health-related factors on nutritional status for children under age 5 years, using the 2009–10 Papua New Guinea Household Income and Expenditure Survey. Stunting and underweight rates sharply rise in the first 24 months. Even in the better-off quintiles, children suffer from suboptimal breastfeeding and complementary food in the first 24 months. In general, the regression results showed that household wealth and geographic location are crucial factors that contribute to children’s malnutrition. More importantly, food quality, measured by protein intake, has significant predicting power on child malnutrition. Broadly increasing socioeconomic status and improving the quantity and quality of caloric intake are general steps to improving health outcomes in Papua New Guinea. In addition, three key areas were identified as critical to alleviating the persistent and detrimental stunting rate in the country: (1) exclusive breastfeeding and complementary food; (2) interventions by health workers; and (3) nutrition education.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Hou, Xiaohui
Format:	Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2015-06
Subjects:	CHILD HEALTH, BIRTH, POVERTY LINE, ECONOMIC GROWTH, DIETARY IMPROVEMENT, CHILD STUNTING, SALT IODIZATION, IODINE DEFICIENCY, SOCIAL ECONOMIC STATUS, VITAMINS, SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, INFANT FEEDING, ILLITERACY, UNDERWEIGHT RATES, PROTEIN, CALORIES, VITAMIN A, REGIONAL LEVEL, MORBIDITY, NUTRITION STATUS, FOOD QUALITY, NUTRITION OUTCOMES, COMPLEMENTARY FOOD, HEALTH CARE, WASTING, FOOD POLICY, HEALTH, POLICY DISCUSSIONS, HEALTH WORKERS, ANEMIA PREVALENCE, HUNGER, NUTRIENTS, PRESCHOOL CHILDREN, CALORIC INTAKE, CHILD GROWTH, NUTRITIONAL OUTCOMES, PUBLIC HEALTH, REGION, ACCESS TO EDUCATION, ANEMIA, KNOWLEDGE, DEVELOPMENT, MALNUTRITION RATES, DIABETES, RURAL POPULATIONS, HEALTH STATUS, DISEASES, IRON, INFECTIOUS DISEASES, HOUSEHOLD HEAD, INTERVENTION, CAPACITY, FOOD RESEARCH, PRODUCTIVITY, CHILD DEVELOPMENT, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, ORGANIZATIONS, VEGETABLES, NUTRITION POLICY, MORTALITY, IODIZATION, HOUSEHOLD HEADS, WEIGHT GAIN, ACCESS TO INFORMATION, FOOD ACCESS, NUTRITIONAL STATUS, DIET, NUTRIENT, STAPLE FOODS, CONSUMPTION, EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT, RURAL COMMUNITIES, FOOD SECURITY, WORKERS, IODINE, POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER, HUMAN NUTRITION, HEALTH POLICY, HEALTH OUTCOMES, DIARRHEA, MALNUTRITION AMONG CHILDREN, NUTRITION EDUCATION, SEVERE MALNUTRITION, MALNUTRITION, CHILD NUTRITION, NUTRITION, FOOD, MALARIA, SURVEYS, POLICY, CHILD MALNUTRITION, RISK FACTORS, CHILD MORTALITY, WASTED CHILDREN, FOOD INSECURITY, WEIGHT, GROWTH MONITORING, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICABLE DISEASES, ANIMAL PROTEIN, FEEDING, NUTRITIONAL PROGRAMS, OBESITY, CHILDREN, FOOD INTAKE, REGIONS, EDUCATION, UNDERNUTRITION, SPATIAL VARIATIONS, LOW BIRTH WEIGHT, POVERTY, STUNTING, INFECTION, INFANTS, POPULATION, NUTRITION SURVEYS, RICE, NUTRITIONISTS, POLICY RESEARCH, MICRONUTRIENTS, STRATEGY, POVERTY ASSESSMENT, EPIDEMIOLOGY, FAMILIES, POORER FAMILIES, SOCIAL WORKERS, HEALTH SERVICES, IMPLEMENTATION, PREGNANCY, VITAMIN, BREASTFEEDING, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, MINERALS, GROWTH,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/06/24611773/stagnant-stunting-rate-despite-rapid-economic-growth-papua-new-guineafactors-correlated-malnutrition-among-children-under-five https://hdl.handle.net/10986/22173
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!