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Mortality and Morbidity Transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Adult Height
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1830-7728
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EUI MWP; 2008/41
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AKACHI, Yoko, CANNING, David, Mortality and Morbidity Transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Adult Height, EUI MWP, 2008/41 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/9857
Abstract
In most developing countries, rising levels of nutrition and improvements in public health have led to declines in infant mortality and rising adult height. In Sub-Saharan Africa, however, we see a different pattern. Sub-Saharan Africa has seen large reductions in infant mortality over the last fifty years, but without any increase in protein or energy intake, and against a background of stagnant, or even declining, adult height. Adult height is a sensitive indicator of the nutrition and morbidity prevailing during the childhood of the cohort and can be taken as a measure of population health. Declining infant mortality rates in Sub-Saharan Africa appear to be driven by medical interventions that reduce infant mortality, and may not be reflective of broad-based health improvements.