Has the prevalence of stunting in South African children changed in 40 years? A systematic review

BMC Public Health

Volumn 15, Issue 1, 2015, Pages

  Said Mohamed, Rihlat ^a   Micklesfield, Lisa K ^a   Pettifor, John M ^a   Norris, Shane A ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND   (South Africa)

Author keywords

Preschool children; Prevalence trends; South Africa; Stunting; Sub Saharan Africa; Undernutrition

Indexed keywords

FEMALE; GROWTH DISORDERS; HUMAN; INFANT; LIFESTYLE; MALE; NUTRITIONAL STATUS; PRESCHOOL CHILD; PREVALENCE; RURAL POPULATION; SOUTH AFRICA;

CHILD, PRESCHOOL; FEMALE; GROWTH DISORDERS; HUMANS; INFANT; LIFE STYLE; MALE; NUTRITIONAL STATUS; PREVALENCE; RURAL POPULATION; SOUTH AFRICA;

EID: 84930633827     PISSN: None     EISSN: 14712458     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-015-1844-9     Document Type: Article

References (93)

1. United Nation. We can end poverty. Millennium Development goals and beyond 2015. www.un.org/millenniumgoals/. Accessed 03 December 2013
2. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Improving Child Nutrition. The achievable imperative for global progress. New York: Division of Communication, UNICEF; 2013. www.unicef.org/publications/index-68661.html. Accessed 03 October 2013.
3. Chabra R, Rokx C. The Nutrition MDG Indicator. Interpreting Progress. Washington DC: World Bank; 2004.
4. Fanzo JC, Pronyk PM. A review of Global progress toward the Millennium Development Goal 1 Hunger Target. Food Nutr Bull. 2011;32(2):144-58.
5. Klaver W. Underweight or Stunting as an Indicator of the MDG on Poverty and Hunger. Leiden: African Studies Center; 2010. ASC Working Paper 92 /2010. 41p. https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/16313. Accessed 03 December 2013.
6. Stevens GA, Finucane MM, Paciorek CJ, Flaxman SR, White RA, Donner AJ, et al. Nutrition Impact Model Study Group (Child Growth). Trends in mild, moderate, and severe stunting and underweight, and progress towards MDG 1 in 141 developing countries: a systematic analysis of population representative data. Lancet. 2012;380(9844):824-34.
7. World Health Organization (WHO). WHO Child Growth Standards: Methods and Development. Geneva: Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, World Health Organization; 2007.
8. Victora CG, Adair L, Fall C, Hallal PC, Martorell R, Richter L, et al. Maternal and child undernutrition: consequences for adult health and human capital. Lancet. 2008;371:340-57.
9. de Onis M, Dewey KG, Borghi E, Onyango AW, Blössner M, Daelmans B, et al. The World Health Organization's global target for reducing childhood stunting by 2025: rationale and proposed actions. Matern Child Nutr. 2013;9(S2):6-26.
10. Abrahams Z, McHiza Z, Steyn NP. Diet and mortality rates in Sub-Saharan Africa: stages in the nutrition transition. BMC Public Health. 2011;13(11):801.
11. Margo G, Lipschitz S, Joseph E, Green R, Metz J. Protein calorie malnutrition and nutritional anaemia in Black pre-school children in a South African semirural community. S Afr Med J. 1976;50(3):67-74.
12. Margo G, Baroni Y, Brindley M, Green R, Metz J. Protein energy malnutrition in mixed ancestry children in Western Township, Johannesburg. Part II. Prevalence and severity. S Afr Med J. 1976;50(32):1241-5.
13. Shisana O, Labadarios D, Rehle T, Simbayi L, Zuma K, Dhansay A, et al. Faber M, and the SANHANES-1 Team South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES-1). Cape Town: HSRC Press; 2014.
14. Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG, The PRISMA Group. Group. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement. PLoS Med. 2009;6(6), e1000097.
15. Victora CG, de Onis M, Hallal PC, Blössner M, Shrimpton R. Worldwide timing of growth faltering: revisiting implications for interventions. Pediatrics. 2010;125(3):e473-80.
16. Shamliyan T, Kane RL, Dickinson S. A systematic review of tools used to assess the quality of observational studies that examine incidence or prevalence and risk factors for diseases. J Clin Epidemiol. 2010;63(10):1061-70.
17. Giannakopoulos NN, Rammelsberg P, Eberhard L, Schmitter M. A new instrument for assessing the quality of studies on prevalence. Clin Oral Investig. 2012;16(3):781-8.
18. Stuart HC, Stevenson SS. Physical growth and development. In: Nelson WE, editor. Textbook of Pediatrics. 7th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 1959. p. 12-61.
19. National Center for Health Statistics. NCHS Growth Curves for Children, Birth to 18 Years. Washington DC: Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, National Center for Health Statistics; 1977. DHEW publication No. 78-1650.
20. Kuczmarski RJ, Ogden CL, Guo SS, Grummer-Strawn LM, Flegal KM, Mei Z, et al. 2000 CDC growth charts for the United States: Methods and development. Hyattsville (Maryland): Department of health and human services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for Health Statistics; 2002. DHHS publication number (PHS) 2002-1696. Vital Health Statistics 11(246).
21. Waterlow JC, Buzina R, Keller W, Lane JM, Nichaman MZ, Tanner JM. The presentation and use of height and weight data for comparing the nutritional status of groups of children under the age of 10 years. Bull World Health Organ. 1977;55(4):489-98.
22. WHO expert committee. Physical Status: the use and Interpretation of Anthropometry. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1995. WHO Technical Report Series 854.
23. Statistics South Africa. Census 2011. Census in brief. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa; 2012. Report number: 03-01-41. http://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census-2011/census-products/Census-2011-Census-in-brief.pdf. Accessed 18 May 2015.
24. The Regional Health Organization for Southern Africa (RHOSA). First RHOSA nutrition study. Anthropometric assessment of nutritional status of black under fives in rural RSA. Epidem Comments. 1987;14:1-44.
25. Department of Health. Anthropometric Survey in Primary Schools in the Republic of South Africa (RSA): 1994. Pretoria: Department of Health; 1994.
26. The South African Vitamin A Consultative Group. Children aged 6 to 71 months in South Africa, 1994: their Anthropometric, Vitamin A, Iron and Immunisation Coverage Status. Johannesburg: The South African Vitamin A Consultative Group; 1995.
27. Zere E, McIntyre D. Inequities in under-five child malnutrition in South Africa. Int J Equity Health. 2003;2(1):7.
28. Steyn NP, Labadarios D, Maunder E, Nel J, Lombard C. Directors of the National Food Consumption Survey. Secondary anthropometric data analysis of the National Food Consumption Survey in South Africa: the double burden. Nutrition. 2005;21(1):4-13.
29. Department of Health, Medical Research Council, OrcMacro. South Africa Demographic and Health survey 2003 (SADHS). Pretoria: Department of Health; 2007.
30. Ardington C, Case A. Health: Analysis of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) wave 1 dataset. Cape Town: Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, School of Economics, University of Cape Town; 2009. Discussion paper number 2/15.
31. Kruger HS, Steyn NP, Swart EC, Maunder EM, Nel JH, Moeng L, et al. Overweight among children decreased, but obesity prevalence remained high among women in South Africa, 1999-2005. Public Health Nutr. 2012;15(4):594-9.
32. Shuenyane E, Mashigo S, Eyberg C, Richardson BD, Buchanan N, Pettifor J, et al. A socio-economic, health and cultural survey in Soweto. S Afr Med J. 1977;51(15):495-500.
33. Westcott GM, Stott RA. The extent and causes of malnutrition in children in the Tsolo district of Transkei. S Afr Med J. 1977;52(24):963-8.
34. Richardson BD. Malnutrition and nutritional anthropometry. J Trop Pediatr. 1980;26(3):80-4.
35. Adhikari M, Coovadia H. Mid-upper arm circumference in the assessment of growth retardation. S Afr Med J. 1981;9(2):32.
36. Krynauw JD, Fincham RJ, Kotzé JP. An anthropometric survey of the nutritional status of black preschool children in the Dias Divisional Council area, May 1981. S Afr Med J. 1983;64(28):1095-8.
37. Ndlovu SM. An Assessment of the Nutritional Status of Infants and Children Under the Age of Five in Semi-Urban and Rural Areas of Kwazulu [dissertation]. Kwa Dlangezwa, South Africa: University of Zululand; 1984.
38. Lazarus T, Bhana K. Protein-energy malnutrition and associated variables among Indian pre-school children in a selected area of Natal. S Afr Med J. 1984;65(10):381-4.
39. Richardson BD, Sinwel RE. Infant growth in a rural Tswana community. S Afr Med J. 1984;65(19):775-8.
40. Richardson BD. Changes in anthropometric measurements of South African children-a cause for concern. S Afr Med J. 1986;69(1):11-2.
41. Househam KC, Elliott E. Nutritional status of black children under 5 years old attending a municipal clinic in Bloemfontein. S Afr Med J. 1987;71(8):494.
42. Hugo-Hamman CT, Kibel MA, Michie CA, Yach D. Nutrition status of pre-school children in a Cape Town township. S Afr Med J. 1987;72(5):353-5.
43. Jacobs M, Joubert G, Hoffman M. Anthropometric assessment of children in Mamre. S Afr Med J. 1988;74(7):341-3.
44. Byarugaba J. The impact of urbanization on the health of black pre-school children in the Umtata district, Transkei, 1990. S Afr Med J. 1991;79(8):444-8.
45. le Roux IM, le Roux PJ. Survey of the health and nutrition status of a squatter community in Khayelitsha. S Afr Med J. 1991;79(8):500-3.
46. Ramphele MA, Heap M, Trollip DK. Health status of hostel dwellers. Part III. Nutritional status of children 0-5 years. S Afr Med J. 1991;79(12):705-9.
47. Barron PM, Ferrinho PD, Buch E, Gear JS, Morris A, Orkin FM, et al. Community health survey of Oukasie, 1987. S Afr Med J. 1991;79(1):32-4.
48. Steyn NP, Badenhorst CJ, Nel JH, Jooste PL. The nutritional status of Pedi preschool children in two rural areas of Lebowa. S Afr J Food Sci Nutr. 1992;4(2):24-8.
49. Coetzee DJ, Ferrinho P. Nutritional status of children in Alexandra township. Clinic-based data and a community survey. S Afr Med J. 1994;84(7):413-5.
50. Solarsh GC, Sanders DM, Gibson CA, Gouws E. Community-based survey versus sentinel site sampling in determining the nutritional status of rural children. Implications for nutritional surveillance and the development of nutritional programmes. S Afr Med J. 1994;84(11):747-52.
51. Bourne LT, Langenhoven ML, Steyn K, Jooste PL, Laubscher JA, Bourne DE. Nutritional status of 3-6 year-old African children in the Cape Peninsula. East Afr Med J. 1994;71:695-702.
52. Steyn NP, Nel JH, Tichelaar HY, Prinsloo JF, Dhansay MA, Oelofse A, et al. Malnutrition in Pedi preschool children, their siblings and caretakers. South Afr J Clin Nutr. 1994;7:12-8.
53. Coutsoudis A, Jinabhai CC, Coovadia HM, Mametja LD. Determining appropriate nutritional interventions for South African children living in informal urban settlements. S Afr Med J. 1994;84(9):597-600.
54. Grant JP. The State of the World's Children 1994. UK: Oxford University Press; 1994.
55. Wagstaff LA, Fleming AF, Mkhasibe C, Becker PJ, Macphail AP. Iron status in under five year old children in greater Johannesburg and Soweto. SA J Food Sci Nutr. 1994;6(1):13-6.
56. Walsh CM. The Effect of A Nutrition Education Programme on the Knowledge of Nutrition and Dietary Practices of Lower Socio-Economic Mixed Ancestry Communities [dissertation]. Bloemfontein: University of the Orange Free State; 1995.
57. Dannhauser A, Joubert G, Nel M. Nutritional status of preschool children in the Bloemfontein district. SA J Food Sci Nutr. 1996;8(1):14-22.
58. Oelofse A, Faber M, Benadé JG, Benadé AJ, Kenoyer DG. The nutritional status of a rural community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: the Ndunakazi project. Cent Afr J Med. 1999;45(1):14-9.
59. Dannhauser A, Bester C, Joubert G, Badenhorst P, Slabber M, Badenhorst A, et al. Nutritional status of preschool children in informal settlement areas near Bloemfontein. South Africa Public Health Nutr. 2000;3(3):303-12.
60. Monyeki KD, Cameron N, Getz B. Growth and nutritional status of rural South African children 3-10 years old: The Ellisras growth study. Am J Hum Biol. 2000;12(1):42-9.
61. Cleaton-Jones P, Richardson BD, Granath L, Fatti LP, Sinwell R, Walker AR, et al. Nutritional status and dental caries in a large sample of 4- and 5-year-old South African children. S Afr Med J. 2000;90(6):631-5.
62. Walsh CM, Dannhauser A, Joubert G. The impact of a nutrition education programme on the anthropometric nutritional status of low-income children in South Africa. Public Health Nutr. 2002;5(1):3-9.
63. Oelofse A, Van Raaij JM, Benadé AJ, Dhansay MA, Tolboom JJ, Hautvast JG. Disadvantaged black and mixed ancestry infants in two urban communities in the Western Cape, South Africa differ in micronutrient status. Public Health Nutr. 2002;5(2):289-94.
64. Chopra M. Risk factors for undernutrition of young children in a rural area of South Africa. Public Health Nutr. 2003;6(7):645-52.
65. Kleynhans IC, MacIntyre U, Albertse EC. Stunting among young black children and the socio-economic and health status of their mothers/caregivers in poor areas of rural Limpopo and urban Gauteng - the NutriGro Study. South Afr J Clin Nutr. 2006;19(4):163-70.
66. Faber M, Benade AJS. Breastfeeding, complementary feeding and nutritional status of 6-12 month old infants in rural kwaZulu-Natal. South Afr J Clin Nutr. 2007;20:1.
67. Smuts CM, Faber M, Schoeman SE, Laubscher JA, Oelofse A, Benadé AJS, et al. Socio-demographic profiles and anthropometric status of 0- to 71-month-old children and their caregivers in rural districts of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa. South Afr J Clin Nutr. 2008;21:117-26.
68. Kimani-Murage EW, Kahn K, Pettifor JM, Tollman SM, Dunger DB, Gómez-Olivé XF, et al. The prevalence of stunting, overweight and obesity, and metabolic disease risk in rural South African children. BMC Public Health. 2010;10:158.
69. Mamabolo RL, Alberts M, Steyn NP, de Waal HA D-v, Levitt NS. Prevalence and determinants of stunting and overweight in 3-year-old black South African children residing in the Central Region of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Public Health Nutr. 2005;8(5):501-8.
70. Norris SA, Griffiths P, Pettifor JM, Dunger DB, Cameron N. Implications of adopting the WHO 2006 Child Growth Standards: case study from urban South Africa, the Birth to Twenty cohort. Ann Hum Biol. 2009;36(1):21-7.
71. Harrison D. Nutrition. In: Harrison D, editor. South African Health Review 1995. South Africa: Health Systems Trust; 1995. p. 209-21. www.hst.org.za/publications/south-african-health-review-1995. Accessed 20 December 2013
72. World Health Organisation, Food and Agriculture Organization. Food Fortification. Protein-Calorie Malnutrition. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1971. Technical report series No 477(WHO)/49(FAO).
73. Seoane N, Latham MC. Nutritional anthropometry in the identification of malnutrition in childhood. J Trop Pediatr Environ Child Health. 1971;17(3):98-104.
74. Waterlow JC. Classification and definition of protein-calorie malnutrition. Br Med J. 1972;3(5826):566-9.
75. World Health Organisation. UNICEF, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Methodology of nutritional surveillance. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1976. Technical report series No 593.
76. Ergo A, Gwatkin DR, Shekar M. Food Nutr Bull. What difference do the new WHO child growth standards make for the prevalence and socioeconomic distribution of undernutrition? 2009;30(1):3-15.
77. Leibbrandt M, Woolard I, de Villiers L. Methodology: Report on National Income Dynamic Study Wave 1. Cape Towna: Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, School of Economics, University of Cape Town; 2009. NIDS Technical Paper No.1.
78. Hales CN, Barker DJP. The thrifty phenotype hypothesis. Br Med Bull. 2001;60:5-20.
79. Black RE, Victora CG, Walker SP, Bhutta ZA, Christian P, de Onis M, et al. Maternal and Child Nutrition Study Group. Maternal and child undernutrition and overweight in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet. 2013;382(9890):427-51.
80. Prentice AM, Ward KA, Goldberg GR, Jarjou LM, Moore SE, Fulford AJ, et al. Critical windows for nutritional interventions against stunting. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013;97(5):911-8.
81. Turok I. Urbanisation and Development in South Africa: Economic Imperatives, Spatial Distortions and Strategic Responses. London: Population and Development Branch, International Institute for Environment and Development; 2012. Urbanization and emerging population issues working paper 8.
82. Kok P, O'Donovan M, Bouare O, van Zyl J. Post-Apartheid Patterns of Internal Migration in South Africa. Cape Town: Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) publisher; 2003.
83. Collinson M, Tollman S, Kahn K. Migration, settlement change and health in post-apartheid South Africa: Triangulating health and demographic surveillance with national census data. Scand J Public Health Suppl. 2007;69:77-84.
84. Kahn K. Collinson M. Tollman S. Wolff B. Garenne M. Clark S.
85. Statistics South Africa. http://beta2.statssa.gov.za/. Accessed 20 December 2013
86. Coovadia H, Jewkes R, Barron P, Sanders D, McIntyre D. The health and health system of South Africa: historical roots of current public health challenges. Lancet. 2009;374(9692):817-34.
87. Wamani H, Astrøm AN, Peterson S, Tumwine JK, Tylleskär T. Boys are more stunted than girls in sub-Saharan Africa: a meta-analysis of 16 demographic and health surveys. BMC Pediatr. 2007;7:17.
88. Veary J. Challenging urban health: towards an improved local government response to migration, informal settlements, and HIV in Johannesburg, South Africa. Global Health Action. 2011;4.
89. Chopra M, Lawn JE, Sanders D, Barron P, Abdool Karim SS, Bradshaw D, et al. Achieving the health Millennium Development Goals for South Africa: challenges and priorities. Lancet. 2009;374(9694):1023-31.
90. Mayosi BM, Lawn JE, van Niekerk A, Bradshaw D, Abdool Karim SS, Coovadia HM. Lancet South Africa team. Health in South Africa: changes and challenges since 2009. Lancet. 2012;380(9858):2029-43.
91. Department of Health. Landscape Analysis on Countries' Readiness to Accelerate Action to Reduce Maternal and Child Under-nutrition: Nationwide Country Assessment in South Africa. Report. Pretoria: Department of Health; 2010. http://www.who.int/nutrition/landscape-analysis/SouthAfrica/en/. Accessed 04 January 2015.
92. Department of Health. Roadmap for Nutrition in South Africa 2013-2017. Pretoria: Department of Health; 2013. https://extranet.who.int/nutrition/gina/en/node/7994. Accessed 04 January 2015.
93. Monteiro CA, Benicio MH, Conde WL, Konno S, Lovadino AL, Barros AJ, et al. Narrowing socioeconomic inequality in child stunting: the Brazilian experience, 1974-2007. Bull World Health Organ. 2010;88(4):305-11.