Micronutrient Deficiencies and Nutritional Status among Children and Women in Nepal

Abstract

Background: For decades, nutritional deficiencies have been major public health concerns in Nepal, where children and women are most vulnerable. Deficiencies in the micronutrients vitamin A, iodine and iron are among the most common. The Sustainable Development Goal no 2 “Zero Hunger”, declared by the United Nations, aims to defeat hunger by 2030. Aim: To elucidate the development regarding anemia, iodine deficiency, vitamin A deficiency and the nutritional status among children and women of reproductive age in Nepal. Methods: A retrospective analyzing study using the Nepal National Micronutrient Status Survey from 1998 and 2016 among children mainly aged 6-59 months and women aged 15-49 years. Since the datasets consist of aggregated data of Hemoglobin, S-Retinol and Urinary Iodine Concentration and anthropometric measures for nutritional status, “individual confidence interval for the difference between proportions” was mainly used for the statistical analysis. Results: The prevalence of anemia, vitamin A deficiency and iodine deficiency were statistically decreased for both children and women during this period. Iodine deficiency was eliminated as a public health concern, while anemia and vitamin A deficiency still were considered as mild to moderate public health concerns. Similarly, the prevalence of stunted children, as well as underweight among both children and women, were significantly decreased, but the high prevalence remained. In contrast, the prevalence of wasted children significantly increased. Conclusions: Altogether, the nutritional health among children and women has remarkably improved during the last decades in Nepal. Despite this, Nepal is far from achieving the nutritional targets of “Zero Hunger” since, except iodine deficiency, major nutritional deficiencies persist, where children and women in rural areas are more exposed. Alarmingly and unexplainable, an increased prevalence of wasted children was found throughout Nepal, but most prominent in rural areas and in the Terai.