Wasting and stunting in young children in developing countries
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN89017827 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN89017827 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | N/A |
- Submission date
- 21/08/2017
- Registration date
- 21/08/2017
- Last edited
- 26/11/2019
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Nutritional, Metabolic, Endocrine
Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Wasting (having a low weight-for-height) and stunting (having a low height-for-age) are common and are implicated in the deaths of almost two million children each year. Wasting and stunting tend to be addressed as separate issues despite evidence of common causes and the fact that many children suffer simultaneously from both conditions. The aim of this study is to examine the size of the overlap between wasted and stunted children to determine the degree of overlap and the association with underweight children.
Who can participate?
Children aged 6-59 months
What does the study involve?
A database of surveys is created containing data for almost 1.8 million children. This is analysed to determine the overlap between sets of wasted, stunted, and underweight children; the association between being wasted and being stunted; the severity of wasting and stunting; and the prevalence of wasting and stunting by age and sex.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
There are no benefits or risks to the children who are measured. The benefit is to the international community concerned with addressing all forms of child undernutrition.
Where is the study run from?
Emergency Nutrition Network (UK)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
January 1992 to December 2015
Who is funding the study?
1. US Agency for International Development (USA)
2. Irish Aid (Ireland)
Who is the main contact?
Ms Carmel Dolan
Contact information
Scientific
32 Leopold Street
Oxford
OX4 1TW
United Kingdom
Study information
| Study design | Observational cross-sectional study |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Observational |
| Secondary study design | Cross sectional study |
| Study setting(s) | Other |
| Study type | Other |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use the contact details to request a patient information sheet |
| Scientific title | Children who are both wasted and stunted are also underweight and have a high risk of death – policy implications |
| Study hypothesis | This study examined the magnitude of overlap between wasted and stunted children to determine the degree of overlap and the association with underweight children. |
| Ethics approval(s) | This is an observational study so does not need ethical approval. All data was anonymous and was secondary and readily available for further analysis. There were no human or animal subjects. |
| Condition | Nutrition |
| Intervention | A database of cross-sectional survey datasets containing data for almost 1.8 million children was compiled. This was analysed to determine the intersection between sets of wasted, stunted, and underweight children; the association between being wasted and being stunted; the severity of wasting and stunting in WaSt children; and the prevalence of WaSt by age and sex. An additional analysis of the WHO Growth Standards sought the maximum possible weight-for-age z-score for WaSt children. |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure | Overlap between wasted, stunted and underweight children as measured by <-2SD WHZ, HAZ, WAZ |
| Secondary outcome measures | Degree of concurrence i.e. <-2SDWHZ AND ,-2SDHAZ in children and by age (6-59 months) and by sex (male/female) |
| Overall study start date | 01/01/1992 |
| Overall study end date | 01/12/2015 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | All |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Lower age limit | 6 Months |
| Upper age limit | 59 Months |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 1,796,991 children |
| Total final enrolment | 1796991 |
| Participant inclusion criteria | 1. 6-59 month old children 2. Males and females |
| Participant exclusion criteria | Children over 59 months of age |
| Recruitment start date | 01/01/1992 |
| Recruitment end date | 01/12/2015 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- American Samoa
- Angola
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cabo Verde
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Congo
- Congo, Democratic Republic
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Djibouti
- Ecuador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea-Bissau
- Haiti
- India
- Indonesia
- Kenya
- Lao People's Democratic Republic
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Timor-Leste
- Uganda
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Study participating centre
Chad
Sponsor information
Charity
32 Leopold Street
Oxford
OX4 1TW
United Kingdom
| Website | http://www.ennonline.net/ |
|---|
Funders
Funder type
Government
Government organisation / National government
- Alternative name(s)
- U.S. Agency for International Development, Agency for International Development, USAID
- Location
- United States of America
Government organisation / National government
- Location
- Ireland
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 21/11/2017 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Stored in repository |
| Publication and dissemination plan | The study is being submitted to a high impact peer reviewed journal and once accepted the trialists will ensure open access and at a later stage disseminate through their organization's global network and via international meetings/conferences. |
| IPD sharing plan | These are merged datasets which many international organisations feed into when the surveys are complete. The data is anonymous so there is no risk of invading confidentiality. These are quite old SMART surveys that might not be used again. The agencies also have the data and the source agency is acknowledged in the paper. The data is officially ‘owned’ by the donors who funded the surveys originally and they insist on open access data exactly for the purpose of further analysis. The lead author is a senior analyst who has access to the datasets and has used the data for previous well known peer reviewed publications. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | results | 16/07/2018 | 26/11/2019 | Yes | No |
Editorial Notes
26/11/2019: The following changes have been made:
1. Publication reference added.
2. The final enrolment number was added from the reference.
