Child growth is an internationally accepted outcome reflecting child nutritional status. Child wasting refers to a child who is too thin for his or her height and is the result of recent rapid weight loss or the failure to gain weight. A child who is moderately or severely wasted has an increased risk of death, but treatment is possible. Child wasting is one of the World Health Assembly nutrition target indicators.
Definition:
Prevalence of wasting (weight for height <-2 standard deviation from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age.
Disaggregation:
Country, regional and worldwide JME global estimates refer to the age group of children under 5 years, sexes combined. Disaggregation are currently not available for the JME global estimates. However, a disaggregated dataset of national primary sources with sub national and stratified estimates (e.g. sex, age groups, wealth, mothers' education, residence) is available.
Method of measurement
Data collection method
UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank group jointly review new data sources to update the country level estimates. Each agency uses their existing mechanisms for obtaining data.
For UNICEF, the cadre of dedicated data and monitoring specialists working at national, regional and international levels in 190 countries routinely provide technical support for the collection and analysis of nutrition data. UNICEF also relies on a data source catalogue that is regularly updated using data sources from catalogues of other international organizations and national statistics offices. This data collection is done in close collaboration with UNICEF regional offices with the purpose of ensuring that UNICEF global databases contain updated and internationally comparable data. The regional office staff work with country offices and local counterparts to ensure the most relevant data are shared.
WHO data gathering strongly relies on the organization’s structure and network established over the past 30 years, since the creation of its global database, the WHO Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition, in the late 1980’s (de Onis et al. 2004).
The World Bank Group provides estimates available through the Living Standard Measurement Surveys (LSMS) which usually requires re-analysis of datasets given that the LSMS reports often do not tabulate the child malnutrition data.
M&E Framework:
Impact
Method of estimation:
Method of computation
Survey estimates are based on standardized methodology using the WHO Child Growth Standards as described in Recommendations for data collection, analysis and reporting on anthropometric indicators in children under 5 years old (WHO/UNICEF 2019) and WHO Anthro Survey Analyser (WHO, 2019).
Worldwide and regional estimates are based on methodology described in UNICEF-WHO-The World Bank: Joint child malnutrition estimates - Levels and trends (UNICEF/WHO/WB 2012).
Method of estimation of global and regional aggregates:
Method of estimation of global and regional aggregates:
A well-established methodology for deriving global and regional trends and forecasting future trends, have been published (de Onis et al., 2004a, 2004b). Regional aggregates are available for the following classifications: UN, MDG, UNICEF, WHO, The World Bank regions and income groups.
Preferred data sources:
Household surveys
Specific population surveys
Surveillance systems; All references to Kosovo should be understood to be in the context of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999)
Expected frequency of data dissemination:
The UNICEF-WHO-WB Joint Child Malnutrition (JME) group releases country, regional and worldwide estimates at the end of March so that data are available for the SDG report and database. The JME group also maintain a dataset of primary data sources (household surveys) used to generate the JME global estimates.
Expected frequency of data collection:
Data sources are updated in a continuous base to feed into the annual production of global and regional estimates and updated country level dataset released every March
Comments:
Survey estimates come with levels of uncertainty due to both sampling error and non-sampling error (e.g. measurement technical error, recording error etc.,). None of the two sources of errrors have been fully taken into account for deriving estimates neither at country nor at regional and global levels. Surveys are carried out in a specific period of the year, usually over a few months. However, this indicator can be affected by seasonality, factors related to food availability (e.g. pre-harvest periods), disease (e.g. rainy season and diarrhoea, malaria, etc.), and natural disasters and conflicts. Hence, country-year estimates may not necessarily be comparable over time. Consequently, only latest estimates are provided.
Data sources
For the majority of countries, nationally representative household surveys constitute the primary data source used to generate the JME global estimates. For a limited number of countries data from surveillance systems are also used as a primary data source for generation of the JME global estimates if sufficient population coverage is documented (about 80%). For both types of primary data sources, the child’s length/height and weight measurements have to be collected following recommended standard measuring techniques (WHO/UNICEF 2019).
Limitations:
Survey estimates come with levels of uncertainty due to both sampling error and non-sampling error (e.g., measurement technical error, recording error etc.,). None of the two sources of errors have been fully taken into account for deriving estimates neither at country nor at regional or worldwide levels. Surveys are carried out in a specific period of the year, usually over a few months. However, this indicator can be affected by seasonality, factors related to food availability (e.g., pre-harvest periods), disease (e.g., rainy season and diarrhoea, malaria, etc.), and natural disasters and conflicts. Hence, country-year estimates may not necessarily be comparable over time. Consequently, trend should be interpreted with caution.
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