Publication: The Nutrition MDG Indicator : Interpreting Progress
Date
2004-05
ISSN
Published
2004-05
Author(s)
Chhabra, Ritu
Rokx, Claudia
Abstract
This paper argues for more nuance in the
interpretation of progress towards the Nutrition Millennium
Development Goal indicator (halving the prevalence of
underweight children, under 5 years old, by 2015).
Interpretation of a country's performance based on
trends alone is ambiguous, and can lead to erroneous
prioritization of countries in need of donor assistance. For
instance, a country may halve the prevalence by 2015, but
will still have unacceptable high malnutrition rates. This
paper analyses which countries are showing satisfactory and
unsatisfactory progress using the Annual Rate of Change
(ARC), and then introduces the World Health
Organization-classification of severity of malnutrition in
the analysis to provide more nuance. It highlights that a
little less than half of the Bank's client population
is likely to halve underweight by 2015. Although the paper
uses national data only, it flags the risks and recommends
that countries take regional disparities into their
needs-analysis. The paper also argues for more attention to
the other important nutrition indicators, stunting and
micronutrient deficiencies, which remain enormous problems,
and briefly discusses solutions to reducing underweight malnutrition.
Citation
“Chhabra, Ritu; Rokx, Claudia. 2004. The Nutrition MDG Indicator : Interpreting Progress. HNP discussion paper series;. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/3bbcaa06-6e6b-570c-bf71-770f8823511d License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”