Institute of Public Health, University Hospital Heidelberg, INF 324, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
J Trop Pediatr. 2013 Oct;59(5):372-9. doi: 10.1093/tropej/fmt037. Epub 2013 Jun 8.
Childhood malnutrition remains a major challenge to public health in poor countries. Data on malnutrition determinants in African children are scarce. A cross-sectional survey was performed in eight villages of Burkina Faso in June 2009, including 460 children aged 6-31 months. Demographic, socioeconomic, parasitological, clinical and anthropometric characteristics were collected. The main outcome variable was weight-for-length (WFL) z-score (i.e. wasting). A multiple regression model identified village, age group, religion and the presence of younger siblings as significantly associated with wasting. Villages differed in their mean WFL z-score by up to one unit. Compared with younger children, the mean WFL z-score of children aged 24-35 months was 0.63 units higher than the WFL z-score in younger children. This study confirms the still unacceptable high level of malnutrition in young children of rural West Africa and supports the fact that childhood malnutrition is a complex phenomenon highly influenced by contextual variables.
儿童期营养不良仍然是贫穷国家公共卫生面临的主要挑战。关于非洲儿童营养决定因素的数据很少。2009 年 6 月在布基纳法索的 8 个村庄进行了一项横断面调查，包括 460 名 6-31 个月大的儿童。收集了人口统计学、社会经济、寄生虫学、临床和人体测量特征。主要结局变量是身长体重（WFL）z 评分（即消瘦）。多回归模型确定了村庄、年龄组、宗教以及是否有年幼的兄弟姐妹与消瘦显著相关。村庄之间的平均 WFL z 评分差异高达一个单位。与年龄较小的儿童相比，24-35 个月大的儿童的平均 WFL z 评分比年龄较小的儿童高 0.63 个单位。这项研究证实了农村西非幼儿营养不良仍然高得令人无法接受，并证实了儿童营养不良是一种受环境变量强烈影响的复杂现象。
