Combating Malnutrition in Ethiopia : An Evidence-Based Approach for Sustained Results

Abstract

Malnutrition can be transient like an acute disease. More often, it is chronic, a lifelong, intergenerational condition beginning early in life and continuing into old age. Most under-nutrition starts during pregnancy and the first two years of life. After a child reaches 24 months of age, damage from early malnutrition is irreversible. Various indicators are commonly used to measure and monitor malnutrition, including rates of stunting, wasting, and underweight among children under five years of age (see the glossary for definitions and explanations). Stunting is a measure of long-term, chronic malnutrition. Wasting is a measure of more transient, acute, but reversible malnutrition. These two measures are often not highly correlated. Underweight is a composite index of stunting and wasting; an underweight child can be stunted, wasted, or both. The government of Ethiopia formulated and approved the first National Nutrition Strategy in February 2008 to concentrate efforts on reducing malnutrition. The National Nutrition Program was approved in December 2008 to implement the strategy following a programmatic approach. The Ministry of Health is the lead agency overseeing the program and implementing its key aspects; other ministries and sectors are also involved in the multisectoral effort to reduce malnutrition.