Nutrition: More Than 60% of Cameroonian Children Under Five Suffering From Ion Deficiency

Although Cameroon has made several advances in recent years in the improvement of health care and food security, chronic malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in children under age 5 remain a public health concern.

In Cameroon 122 in 1000 children die without reaching their fifth birthday, with malnutrition being the underlying factor in a third of these deaths (DHS 2011), according to a recent report published by Global Nutrition. The prevalence of stunting in children under five is 33%, while 15% are underweight and 6% suffer from acute malnutrition (DHS 2011).

Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are also highly prevalent among children in Cameroon. It is estimated that 60% of children under 5 are affected by iron deficiency anaemia, and 40% of children from 12 to 59 months are vitamin A deficient.

Anemic children have a lowered capacity for attention, understanding and logical reasoning than children who are not anemic. This greatly affects their ability to learn and their school performance which ultimately impacts adult productivity.

The Government of Cameroon aimed to implement a strategy to specifically target iron deficiency anaemia in children aged 6 to 23 months.

Micronutrient fortification of industrially manufactured staple foods is regarded as the most cost-effective approach to improving the population’s vitamin and mineral status, but this strategy is not considered adequate for the high needs of young children.

Access to fortified complementary food for young children in Cameroon is out of reach for most families.

Global Nutrition Report says that Cameroon is ‘on course’ to meet two targets for maternal, infant and young child nutrition (MIYCN). No progress has been made towards achieving the target of reducing anaemia among women of reproductive age, with 40.6% of women aged 15 to 49 years now affected.

Meanwhile, there has also been no progress towards achieving the low birth weight target, with 12.0% of infants having a low weight at birth. Cameroon is ‘on course’ for the exclusive breastfeeding target, with 39.4% of infants aged 0 to 5 months exclusively breastfed.

Cameroon has made some progress towards achieving the target for stunting, but 28.9% of children under 5 years of age are still affected. Cameroon is ‘on course’ for the target for wasting, with 4.3% of children under 5 years of age affected. The prevalence of overweight children under 5 years of age is 11.0% and Cameroon has made no progress against increasing the figure.

Cameroon has shown limited progress towards achieving the diet-related non-communicable disease (NCD) targets. The country has shown no progress towards achieving the target for obesity, with an estimated 19.2% of adult (aged 18 years and over) women and 7.5% of adult men living with obesity.

Cameroon’s obesity prevalence is lower than the regional average of 20.7% for women and 9.2% for men. At the same time, diabetes is estimated to affect 8.3% of adult women and 7.7% of adult men.

Ingrid KENGNE