Prevalence of Concurrent Wasting and Stunting among Children 6-59 Months of Age: A Meta-Analysis of Demographic and Health Survey in G5 Sahel Countries

Background. Undernutrition is a major public heath among children under five especially in Sahel region. Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger, are four countries of G5 Sahel which is a group of five Sahel countries including Mauritania. The Four countries are landlocked and face challenges of development, demographic, immigration, climate change, food security and terrorism. Wasting and stunting are two forms of undernutrition prevented and/or treated separately. Children presenting concurrently the two forms of malnutrition increased greatly the risk of mortality. The main aim of the present study is to assess the prevalence of children aged 6-59 months concurrently wasted and stunted, and secondly to evaluate prevalence of concurrent wasting and stunting by age group and gender. Methods. Data from Demographic and Health Survey from four countries were analyzed. Pooled prevalence of wasting, stunting, underweight, and concurrent wasting and stunting prevalence among children aged 6-59 months was computed. The pooled prevalence of concurrent wasting and stunting was calculated by age group and gender with 95 % confidence interval. Heterogeneity was explored with high inconsistency ( I2 greater than50 %). Results. A total of 04 surveys met our criteria, with no surveys from Mauritania. Significant heterogeneity was found (I2greater than50 %). The pooled prevalence of stunting was 41.8 % (95 %CI: 37.8 %-46.0 %), wasting: 14.0 % (95 % CI: 11.9 %-16.4 %), and underweight: 30.4 % (95 % IC: 25.4 %-35.6 %). The pooled prevalence of children concurrently wasted and stunted was 5.5 %, (95 % CI: 4.2 %, 7.1 %) P value =0.00. Ranging from 4.4 %, (95 % CI: 3.8 %, 5.0 %) in Mali to 8.1 %, ( 95 % CI: 7. %, 8.9 %) in Niger. Prevalence of children aged 12-23 months concurrently wasted and stunted was 9.4 %, (95 % IC: 8.6 %, 10.2 %). Compared to girls, boys were higher at risk with 6.6 %, (95 % CI: 6.2 %-7.1 %) while the prevalence for the girls was 4.4 % (95 % CI: 4.0, 4.7 %). Conclusion. Concurrent wasting and stunting was above 5 % in Sahel countries among children aged 6-59 months. Children aged 12-23 months were at higher risk. The children concurrently wasted and stunted have a similar risk of mortality with those who are suffering of severe acute malnutrition, it sound important to give more attention to concurrent wasting and stunting children in designing nutrition program and in current program implementing.