THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MATERNAL AND CHILD NUTRITIONAL-STATUS IN RURAL GUINEA

It has become common public practice to consider the nutritional status of children under five years (as measured by anthropometry) as a barometer for the population as a whole, even though no published literature confirms the relationship between the nutritional status of different demographic segments of the population. This study investigates the relationship between maternal and child anthropometry using data from a regional cross-sectional survey recently undertaken in the Republic of Guinea. The degree of correlation between maternal and child anthropometry is assessed and the performance of child anthropometric status as a screening tool for maternal anthropometric status is evaluated using various epidemiologic techniques. The major finding of this study is that although maternal and child anthropometric indices including receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis are significantly correlated, the magnitude of correlation is modest. More importantly, maternal malnutrition exists in many households where children are free of malnutrition and vice versa. The findings of this research suggest that the common practice of limiting nutritional assessment to under-fives may result in important inaccuracies in evaluating community nutritional problems.