Stunting may not be Stunting When Body Shape is Factored into its Assessment

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between height-for-age and body shape of children under 5 in some parts of Peru, India, Bangladesh and Guinea. The objective of the study was to determine whether the consideration of body shape measured by SSHr in the assessment of stunting could change our understanding of stunting in children in different areas of the world. Anthropometric samples of children aged between 2 to 5 years were collected from Terre des homes Foundation (A Swiss NGO) nutrition project sites in Peru (districts of Andahuaylas, Ventanilla, Huancaray, Turpo, Talavera, San Jeronimo, Lliupapuquio), Guinea (Municipalities of Dixinn, Ratoma), Bangladesh (districts of Mogholbasa, Belgacha, Holokhana, Panchgachi) and India (districts of the Sunderban). The SSHr of the children under study were:                                         Peru                                    Bangladesh                                         India                                    Guinea 24-35 months                  0.605                                    0.580                                                      0.572                                    0.556 36-47 months                  0.584                                    0.571                                                      0.557                                    0.542 48-59 months                  0.573                                    0.562                                                      0.552                                    0.531 All children                  0.586                                    0.568                                                      0.561                                    0.543 Global delay of growth using the HAZ indices among these children were Peru: 32.4% (MDG-23.1%; SDG- 9.4%), Guinea: 18.5% (MDG- 11.0%; SDG- 7.5%), India 43.6% (MDG- 27%; SDG- 16.6%) Bangladesh: 30.5% (MDG- 26.0%; 4.6%). These figures changed dramatically particularly for Peru when the SSHr was factored into the calculations of stunting: Peru: 0.4% (MDG-0.4%; SDG- 0%), Guinea: 18.4% (MDG- 10.0%; SDG- 8.4%), India 16.4% (MDG- 13.7%; SDG- 2.7%) Bangladesh: 2.9% (MDG- 2.7%; SDG- 0.3%).