Effects of the Crises on Child Nutrition and Health in East Asia and the Pacific

Experiences of the 1997 financial crisis in East Asia provide strong evidence that there are serious risks that the current food, fuel, economic and financial crisis will affect child health and nutrition in the region. Using information available on the 1997 crisis, this paper evaluates its effects on nutrition status, reportable diseases, immunization status and child mortality. These results are used to model plausible estimates of the potential health and nutrition impacts of the current crisis across socioeconomic strata. The model results suggest that, if unaddressed, the current crisis could increase maternal anaemia rates by 10—20%, prevalence of low birth weight by 5—10%, childhood stunting by 3—7%, wasting by 8—16% and under-five child mortality in severely affected countries from 3—11%. The paper asserts that a range of low-cost and high-impact interventions exist that, if delivered in primary care settings without further delay, could mitigate or even reverse these adverse health and nutrition consequences.