Club MAPS &FACTS WEST AFRICA BRIEF SAHEL AND WEST AFRICA
www.oecd.org/swac/maps, no. 110, 10/2022
Secretariat
www.west-africa-brief.org
ONE-THIRD OF WEST AFRICAN CHILDREN UNDER FIVE YEARS OF AGE ARE STUNTED. TWICE AS MANY IN POOR HOUSEHOLDS Prevalence of stunting in children by household wealth quintile (% of children, 0-5 years) Poorest 20% of households
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hronic child malnutrition has terrible long-term consequences. The first 1000 days of a human being are decisive. Stunted growth can lead to irreversible brain damage, chronic illnesses and malformations; it can impair a child’s ability to learn and therefore to generate a decent income; it can threaten a child’s social and civic future. When this scourge becomes widespread, it also becomes a threat to the future of entire countries. Nearly one third of children in West Africa are stunted. Its prevalence is twice as high in the poorest households; three times as high in Nigeria. Insufficient access to health care, poor nutrition education and poor quality diets are the determining factors. The poorer you are, the greater the burden of these factors.
Richest 20% of households
Note: Percentage of children under five years of age falling more than two standard deviations below the median height-for-age of the reference population. Estimates are based on the latest DHS and MICS surveys available for each country. Data are post-2016 with the exception of Burkina Faso (2010) and Niger (2012). No data are available for Cabo Verde. Source: UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates Expanded Database: Stunting, Wasting and Overweight (March 2019, New York). © 2022. Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat (SWAC/OECD)
Contact: swac.contact@oecd.org This map is without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.