Nutritional status of children in the Lao PDR

Abstract

The results of the first nationally representative survey of nutritional status of children in the Lao PDR, focusing on the assessment of protein-energy malnutrition are described. Among children under 5 years of age, the prevalence of stunting (children of short stature, below -2 Z-scores height-for-age) is 48 per cent, which is classified by WHO as a 'very high' prevalence, greater than the average of developing countries in the world and in South-East Asia. The prevalence of wasting (children too thin, below -2 Z-scores weight-for-height) is 10 per cent, also 'very high', and slightly greater than the average of South-East Asian children. The prevalence of children underweight (below -2 Z-scores weight-for-age) is 44 per cent, again 'very high' and significantly greater than the average of developing countries in the world and in South-East Asia. Significant differences are observed in the prevalence of both stunting and wasting when comparing subgroups of children: urban children are less stunted and wasted than rural children, children of the lowland majority less than children of ethnic minorities, and children whose mothers had completed primary education less than children whose mothers had never been to school. Girls are less malnourished than boys, but not significantly so. Similar prevalences of stunted and underweight children are noted when comparing with the results of a national survey made in the Lao PDR 10 years ago, although the sampling was not the same.