Wasting among infants under 6-months: a silent public health problem in Afghanistan (28 May 2020)
- Pays
- Afghanistan
- Sources
- Action Against Hunger
- + 2
- Date de publication
INTRODUCTION:
Severe Acute Malnutrition in infants under 6 months of age is often associated with higher mortality. While the community-based approach for treating acute malnutrition among children aged from 6 to 59 months is making progress, prevention and management of acute malnutrition among infants aged under 6 months is given little attention. In Afghanistan, most childhood nutrition interventions are still not focused on infants under 6 months, mainly due to scarcity of adequate statistics on the magnitude of the problem, limited partners’ capacity and lack of adequate resource.
METHODOLOGY:
This analysis used data from 50 SMART surveys conducted from 2015 to 2019 to determine the prevalence of wasting among infants under 6 months in Afghanistan. A total of 3,657 infants under 6 months were included in the analysis. The analysis on exclusive breastfeeding practices, used data for 2,585 infants under six months whose information on feeding practices was collected in 31 SMART surveys.