Analysis of data from the Sanito-nutritional Survey of December 2005

Burkina Faso is a developing country with poor health and social indicators. Infant and child mortality reaches 184% o. Malnutrition remains a major public health problem in Burkina Faso, according to the results of the latest Demographic and Health Surveys.
Within the framework of Monitoring and Early Warning (SAP), the Department of Prevention and Early Warning (DPAP), with the support of the PAMIR project (sustainable development and fight against poverty in rural areas – food security component) funded by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), has initiated a collection of health and nutritional data integrated into the Permanent Agricultural Survey (EPA) since 2004.
This document presents the results of the analysis of the data from the Sanito-nutritional Survey conducted in December 2005. It reviews the data from the Sanito-nutritional Surveys of July 2004, November 2004 and August 2005 and shows the evolving trends. of malnutrition.
Nutritional status is assessed by measuring the MUAC. This measurement was reported to the reference population and expressed as an MUAC z-score for age. Malnutrition was defined as an MUAC z-score for age <-2.
The prevalence of malnutrition is 22.5%. Factors of malnutrition are age 12-23 months, male gender, low household standard of living, and morbidity over the past two weeks. The rate of coverage of food needs is not a good predictor of malnutrition. Compared with 2004, the prevalence of malnutrition fell by 4-5% depending on the period of the survey.
The quality of nutritional information, based on MUAC measurement, improved between July 2004 and August 2005. This improvement is attributable to the capacity building of field investigators. This indicates that under certain conditions it is possible to obtain nutritional data at the national level that is simple to measure and of good quality.
In order to test the predictive ability of the MUAC-based index, it should be combined with measurements of weight and height, as well as with a measure of dietary diversity, and comparisons between these different measures. A system for monitoring the nutritional situation could be instituted, based on the measurement of the MUAC, with an alert threshold defined from comparisons with measurements of weight and height.