The new Nutrition and Family Budget Survey 2019/2021, published by the National Statistics Institute (INE) reveals that chronic malnutrition occurs at "very high" levels in children over 12 months of age and affects "male children" more.

Chronic malnutrition is a serious problem, especially among children under five years of age.

According to the Survey, children living in rural areas suffer more from chronic malnutrition, at "very high" levels compared to those living in urban areas, at levels classified as "medium."  

The Nutrition and Family Budget document also says that the situation has been worse in 2011 and 2013.

"There was mainly a reduction by almost half of the prevalence in children under six months and there was also a drop in chronic malnutrition in the South of the country, but still, the scenario motivates several alerts."

The document points out that children living in households whose leaders have no or only primary schooling are more affected by chronic malnutrition.

The distribution per province shows differences: all provinces in the Central and Northern zones show prevalences at "very high" levels, with Nampula province having the most serious situation. 

The southern provinces have prevalences ranging from "medium" to "low" levels in Maputo province.

The nutrition supplement of the 2019/20 Household Budget Survey was based on a sample of 13,343 households.

INE estimates that the Mozambican population is around 30 million, about half of which is under 18 years old, and that each woman has an average of five children.

It should be noted that chronic malnutrition results from a lack of adequate food, retards children's growth and development, and increases the risk of infant mortality.

Source: Lusa