In 2016, 39,300 boys and girls under five years of age recovered from chronic malnutrition, National Institute of Statistics and Data Processing (INEI) reported.
According to this data, chronic malnutrition in this age group dropped from 14.4% to 13.1%, down by 1.3 percentage points.
INEI also informed that chronic malnutrition over the past five years went down by 6.4 percentage points going from 19.5% to 13.1%, meaning 201,100 kids under five are not underfed anymore.
In terms of place of residence, chronic malnutrition decreased 10.5 percentage points in rural areas and 2.2 points in urban areas, during the same period.
“Chronic malnutrition in boys and girls under five affected primarily the country's poorest regions like Huancavelica, Cajamarca, Ucayali, Pasco and Loreto, with rates higher than 23%,” INEI Chief Anibal Sanchez Aguilar informed.
During the presentation of Population and Family Health Survey—ENDES 2016, he said chronic malnutrition in the current year dropped in 16 regions across the country. Huanuco and Piura experienced a 5.0% fall.
Anemia
In 2016, anemia affected 43.6% of boys and girls aged 6 to 36 months, that is, 681,000 children. Over the past two years, anemia has remained at the same level, mainly in urban areas.
Exclusive breastfeeding
In 2016, 69.8% of the population below 6 months received exclusive breastfeeding, 4.6% up from 2015. Exclusive breastfeeding is higher in rural areas, 20 percentage points higher than in urban areas, and higher during the first months of life.
Vaccines
In 2016, 7.0% of boys and girls had low birthweight, remaining stable in the recent five-year period. During the same period, 74.0% of those under 12 months had all the vaccines recommended for their age, up by 4.6% compared to 2015.
(END) DOP/RRC/RMB
Published: 3/4/2017