Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017
LBD Double Burden of Malnutrition Collaborators, Damaris K. Kinyoki, Jennifer M. Ross, Alice Lazzar-Atwood, Sandra B. Munro, Lauren E. Schaeffer, Mahdieh Abbasalizad Farhangi, Masoumeh Abbasi, Hedayat Abbastabar, Ahmed Abdelalim, Amir Abdoli, Mohammad Abdollahı, Ibrahim Abdollahpour, Rizwan Suliankatchi Abdulkader, Nebiyu Dereje Abebe, Teshome Abuka Abebo, Kedir Hussein Abegaz, Hassan Abolhassani, Lucas Guimarães Abreu, Michael R.M. Abrigo, Abdelrahman Ibrahim Abushouk, Manfred Accrombessi, Dilaram Acharya, Maryam Adabi, Akindele O. Adebiyi, Isaac Akinkunmi Adedeji, Victor Adekanmbi, Abiodun M. Adeoye, Olatunji Adetokunboh, Davoud Adham, Posi Emmanuel Aduroja, Shailesh M Advani, Mohsen Afarideh, Mohammad Aghaali, Anurag Agrawal, Tauseef Ahmad, Keivan Ahmadi, Sepideh Ahmadi, Muktar Beshir Ahmed, Rushdiá Ahmed, Olufemi Ajumobi, Chalachew Genet Akal, Temesgen Yihunie Akalu, Tomi Akinyemiju, Blessing Akombi-Inyang, Ziyad Al‐Aly, Samiah Alam, Genet Melak Alamene, Turki M Alanzi, Jacqueline Elizabeth Alcalde‐Rabanal, Niguse Meles Alema, Beriwan Abdulqadir Ali, Muhammad Ali, Mehran Alijanzadeh, Cyrus Alinia, Vahid Alipour, Hesam Alizade, Syed Mohamed Aljunid, Afshin Almasi, Amir Almasi‐Hashiani, Hesham M. Al‐Mekhlafi, Rajaa Al‐Raddadi, Khalid A Altirkawi, Nelson Alvis‐Guzmán, Nelson J Alvis-Zakzuk, Azmeraw T. Amare, A. Kofi Amegah, Saeed Amini, Mostafa Amini‐Rarani, Fatemeh Amiri, Arianna Maever L. Amit, Nahla Anber, Cătălina Liliana Andrei, Fereshteh Ansari, Alireza Ansari‐Moghaddam, Zelalem Alamrew Anteneh, Carl Abelardo T Antonio, Ernoiz Antriyandarti, Davood Anvari, Razique Anwer, Seth Christopher Yaw Appiah, Jalal Arabloo, Morteza Arab‐Zozani, Ephrem Mebrahtu Araya, Zohreh Arefi, Olatunde Aremu, Johan Ärnlöv, Afsaneh Arzani, Mehran Asadi-Aliabadi, Ali A. Asadi‐Pooya, Samaneh Asgari, Babak Asghari, Alebachew Fasil Ashagre, Anemaw Asrat, Bahar Ataeinia, Hagos Tasew Atalay, Desta Debalkie Atnafu, Maha Atout, Marcel Ausloos, Euripide Avokpaho
Abstract
A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1-70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6-70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization's Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8-38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8-67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic.