Child malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa: A meta-analysis of demographic and health surveys (2006-2016)

Abstract

Background: Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest levels of child malnutrition globally. Therefore, a critical look at the distribution of malnutrition within its sub-regions is required to identify the worst affected areas. This study provides a meta-analysis of the prevalence of malnutrition indicators (stunting, wasting and underweight) within four sub-regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: Cross-sectional data from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys (2006-2016) of 32 countries in sub-Saharan Africa were used. The countries were grouped into four subregions (East Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa and Central Africa), and a meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the prevalence of each malnutrition indicator within each of the sub-regions. Significant heterogeneity was detected among the various surveys (I2 >50%), hence a random effect model was used, and sensitivity analysis was performed, to examine the effects of outliers. Stunting was defined as HAZ