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Double burden of malnutrition in Afghanistan: Secondary analysis of a national survey.

Authors :
Obaidullah Fahim
Shafiqullah Shahim
Ahmad Nawid Shams
Ahmad Farshid Muhammadi
Abolghassem Djazayery
Ahmad Esmaillzadeh
Source :
PLoS ONE, Vol 18, Iss 5, p e0284952 (2023)
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2023.

Abstract

BackgroundReports about the magnitude of co-existence of under- and over-nutrition is limited in Afghanistan. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of double burden of malnutrition (DBM) at individual and household level in Afghanistan.MethodsThis study was done based on the Afghanistan National Nutrition Survey 2013, which included a representative sample of 126,890 individuals (including more than 18,000 households) throughout Afghanistan. Intra-individual DBM was defined as the co-existence of "overweight/obese" and "stunting or micronutrient deficiencies" (including anemia, vitamin A deficiency, vitamin D deficiency and iodine deficiency). At the household level, DBM was considered as having at least one household member as overweight/obese and at least one another member of that household as undernourished (stunted, wasted, underweight or any micronutrient deficiency). SPSS and Stata software were used in the current analysis. Cross-tabulations was used to estimate the prevalence and its 95% confidence interval(CI). This study was ethically approved at Tehran University of Medical sciences.ResultsThe overall prevalence of intra-individual DBM was 12.5% (95% CI: 12.1; 12.9). Among the whole study participants at individual level of DBM, 11.7% (11.3; 12.1) of individuals had overweight along with stunting simultaneously and 20.5% (18.8; 22.4) had overweight and micronutrient deficiencies at the same time at individual level. The household level of DBM was found among 28.6% (95% CI: 27.9; 29.4) of households; such that 27.3% (26.6; 28.1) of households had at least one member with overweight and another member with stunting or wasting or underweight. Co-existence of overweight and micronutrient deficiencies at the same household was seen in 38.3% (35.5; 41.2).ConclusionThis study demonstrated a high prevalence of DBM at individual and household level in Afghanistan. Therefore, developing appropriate national macro-policies and strategies and designing appropriate programs such as public awareness programs, subsidization, food assistance programs, food fortification and dietary supplementation should be implemented by the ministry of public health, inter- related organs and international health agencies to reduce the burden of this problem in this country.

Subjects

Subjects :
Medicine
Science

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
19326203
Volume :
18
Issue :
5
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
PLoS ONE
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.0c49f88428fc47e5a27655f9563e5ac0
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284952