FAO - Nutrition country profiles: Antigua and Barbuda 2003

FAO - Nutrition country profiles: Antigua and Barbuda 2003

Editor

FAO ;

Descripción

Very little recent national information is available on anthropometric measurements for children in Antigua and Barbuda. The latest available figures show that the level of undernutrition (weight for age) among children less than one year old was 1.4% in 1995, a decrease from the 1993 level of 2.3%. For children 1-4 years old, the level remained almost constant, 0.6% - 0.8% over the period 1993-1995, while among the wider age group, 0-5 years, there was a decline of 0.3% between 1996 and 1999. T he prevalence of overweight (weight for age) among children, less than one year old, was higher than that for underweight. It fluctuated during the period 1993- 1995, increasing overall from 7.4% to 8.5%. Among children 1-4 years, there was a slight decline between 1993 and 1995 (from 2.8% to 2.5%). Between 1997 and 1998 the prevalence of overweight decreased among children 0-5 years from 6.6% t0 5.8 % (Table 4a). A 1993 Ministry of Health survey found that the national prevalence of obesity (BM I: > 30) was 4.6%. Among persons 40 years and over, 60% men and 25% women were obese. No recent anthropometric data were available on adolescents in Antigua and Barbuda.