Early childhood nutritional status in CARICOM countries: an overview with respect to five nutrition related millennium development goals.

Pamela S Gaskin,Douladel Willie,Anders L Nielsen,Tara C Durant

doi:10.1155/2014/580928

Abstract

Previous reviews of nutritional status in children under 5 years describe the Caribbean grouped with Latin America. This paper focuses specifically on the Caribbean and the goals and targets of the Millennium Declaration that have bearing on childhood development. The results indicate that CARICOM countries have made progress in terms of child health as assessed by gross health indicators. Yet, the millennium generation experiences coexistence of undernutrition and overweight in early childhood. The associations of GNI with markers such as poverty indices are somewhat inconsistent with traditional findings and highlight a need to reassess the causes of infant mortality and low birth weight. However, a lack of systematic local data has hampered progress on an individual country basis. Interventions that deal more pointedly with country specific needs are required including those targeting obesity if the MDGs are to be attained by all member states.

Highlights

CARICOM countries like many other developing nations are in varying stages of an epidemiologic and nutrition transition [1], such that the traditional public health problems of infectious disease have decreased in prevalence, only to be largely replaced by the diseases of “life style” that are associated with Western-type diets and reduced activity [2]
We examined the relationship of gross national income (GNI) and infant mortality in the CARICOM states to determine whether the data for the region presented by UNICEF followed expected trends [16]
Using data compiled from various sources including some unpublished country surveys, the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI) compiled and published in 2001 regional estimates of overweight among the children ages of 0–5 years

Summary

Introduction

CARICOM countries like many other developing nations are in varying stages of an epidemiologic and nutrition transition [1], such that the traditional public health problems of infectious disease have decreased in prevalence, only to be largely replaced by the diseases of “life style” that are associated with Western-type diets and reduced activity [2]. Nutritional status in children clearly has implications for the future of the individual as well as for these nation states as a whole. Tracking these patterns over time is important if policy tailored to the unique needs of the different countries is to be devised. The goals and targets are interrelated and several have bearing on childhood nutritional status

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion