Nutrition of young children and mothers in Eritrea : findings from the 2002 Eritrea demographic and health survey

It is a result of both inadequate food intake, due to the insufficiency of household food supply, and improper feeding practices. The present report presents data on infant and child malnutrition from the 2002 Eritrea Demographic and Health (DH) Survey, a nationally representative survey of 9,389 households. The report is organized according to the factors influencing malnutrition, including: (1) immediate influences (household use of iodized salt, maternal night blindness, use of vitamin A and iron supplementation, and the prevalence of diarrhea and acute respiratory infections); (2) underlying biological and behavioral influences (fertility and birth levels, undernutrition, measles vaccination coverage, breastfeeding history, and infant feeding and weaning practices); (3) social and economic influences (mother"s level of education, source of drinking water, type of toilet); and (4) basic influences (administrative region and urban-rural place of residence). Maternal nutritional status is described more briefly. For comparison, data are presented for DH surveys conducted in other sub-Saharan countries.