Peer-reviewed article
Malnutrition in mother-child dyads in the Brazilian National Survey on Child Nutrition (ENANI-2019)
Dayana Rodrigues Farias, Luiz Antônio dos Anjos, Maiara Brusco de Freitas, Talita Lelis Berti, Pedro Gomes Andrade et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined malnutrition patterns in mothers and their children under 5 years old in Brazil using national survey data from 2019, comparing findings to 2006. Most Brazilian mothers (58.2%) were overweight, while 9.7% of children were overweight and 6.9% were stunted. The study found that overweight in mother-child pairs increased from 5.2% in 2006 to 7.8% in 2019, and cases where mothers were overweight while children were undernourished (the double burden of malnutrition) more than doubled from 2.7% to 5.2%. Families with lower maternal education, older mothers, and those living in southern Brazil faced higher malnutrition risks.
Key points
- 58.2% of Brazilian mothers were overweight in 2019
- 9.7% of children under 5 were overweight and 6.9% were stunted in 2019
- Overweight in mother-child dyads increased from 5.2% (2006) to 7.8% (2019)
- Double burden of malnutrition (overweight mother with undernourished child) increased from 2.7% to 5.2% between 2006 and 2019
- Mothers with lower education (0-7 years) had significantly higher prevalence of overweight with stunted children (4.8%) compared to those with 12+ years education (2.1%)
Limitations
This is a descriptive cross-sectional and trend analysis that documents prevalence but cannot explain the causes of changing malnutrition patterns or establish causal relationships between maternal characteristics and child nutritional status. The study provides no information about interventions or what might improve these outcomes.
Abstract
Malnutrition affects billions of individuals worldwide and represents a global health challenge. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of malnutrition (undernutrition or overweight) among mother-child dyads in children under 5 years old in Brazil in 2019 and to estimate changes in this prevalence from 2006 to 2019. Individual-level data from the Brazilian National Survey on Child Nutrition (ENANI-2019) and the Brazilian National Survey of Demography and Health of Women and Children carried out in 2006 (PNDS 2006) were analyzed. Malnutrition outcomes in mother-child dyads included overweight mother and child, undernourished mother and child, and the double burden of malnutrition, i.e., overweight mother and child having any form of undernourishment (stunting, wasting, or underweight). Prevalence and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were estimated. Most women (58.2%) and 9.7% of the children were overweight, 6.9% were stunted, and 3.1% of mothers and 2.9% of the children were underweight. The prevalence of overweight in the mother-child dyad was 7.8% and was statistically higher in Southern Brazil (9.7%; 95%CI: 7.5; 11.9) than in the Central-West (5.4%; 95%CI: 4.3; 6.6). The prevalence of overweight mother and stunted child was 3.5%, with statistically significant difference between the extremes of the mother's education [0-7 vs. ≥ 12 years, 4.8% (95%CI: 3.2; 6.5) and 2.1%, (95%CI: 1.2; 3.0), respectively]. Overweight in the dyad increased from 5.2% to 7.8%, and the double burden of malnutrition increased from 2.7% to 5.2% since 2006. Malnutrition in Brazilian mother-child dyads seems to be a growing problem, and dyads with lower formal education, higher maternal age, and from the South Region of Brazil were more vulnerable.