Indicator |
Indicator 2.2.2: Prevalence of malnutrition (weight for height >+2 or <-2 standard deviation from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age, by type (wasting and overweight)
|
Target |
Target 2.2: by 2030 end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving by 2025 the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under five years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, and older persons
|
Organisation |
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
World Health Organization (WHO)
World Bank (WB)
|
Definition and concepts |
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.
(French: pourcentage de émaciation (i.e. poids pour longueur/taille < -2 écarts-types par rapport à la médiane des normes de croissance de l'enfant de l'Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS)) chez les enfants de moins de cinq ans; Spanish: porcentaje de emaciación (i.e. peso para longitud/estatura < -2 desviaciones estándar de la mediana de los estándares de crecimiento infantil de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS)) en niños y niñas menores de cinco años de edad.)
Concepts:
The official SDG indicator is wasting as assessed using weight for height. Wasting can however also be assessed with mid upper arm circumference (MUAC). Estimates of wasting based on MUAC are not considered for the JME joint database. In addition, while wasting constitutes the major form of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM), there are acutely malnourished children who would not be picked up with weight-for-height or MUAC, namely those presenting bilateral pitting oedema (characterized by swollen feet, face and limbs). For surveys that report wasting including oedema cases, these are included in the prevalence of low weight-for-height in the JME database unless raw data are available for re-analysis.
|
Unit of measure |
Proportion
|
Data sources |
For the majority of countries, nationally representative household surveys constitute the data source. For a limited number of countries data from surveillance systems is used if sufficient population coverage is documented (about 80%). For both data sources, the child’s length/height and weight measurements have to be collected following recommended standard measuring techniques (WHO/UNICEF 2019).
|
Data providers |
The majority of the data sources used are nationally representative household surveys (e.g., Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and National Nutrition Surveys (NNS)). Some data come from other sources (e.g., administrative, sentinel systems or national information systems).
Data providers vary and most commonly are ministries of health, national offices of statistics or national institutes of nutrition.
|
Comment and limitations |
Survey estimates have uncertainty due to both sampling error and non-sampling error (e.g., measurement technical error, recording error etc.,). While non-sampling error cannot be accounted for or reviewed in full, when available, a data quality review of weight, height and age measurements data from household surveys supports compilation of a time series that is comparable across countries and over time. 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, only latest estimates are provided.
|
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).
|
Metadata update |
2023-05-15
|
International organisations(s) responsible for global monitoring |
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
World Health Organization (WHO)
World Bank (WB)
|
Related indicators |
Good nutrition lays the foundation for achieving many of the SDGs with improvements in nutrition directly supporting the achievement of SDG3 (ensuring healthy lives), while also playing a role in ending poverty (SDG1), ensuring quality education (SDG4), achieving gender equality (SDG5), promoting economic growth (SDG8), and reducing inequalities (SDG10). In this way, nutrition is the lifeblood of sustainable development, and drives the changes needed for a more sustainable and prosperous future.
|
UN designated tier |
1
|