Animal-sourced foods improve child nutrition in Africa.

ABSTRACT: Child undernutrition remains a widespread public health problem in the Global South, especially in Africa. Childhood stunting-meaning linear growth retardation-is a comprehensive and commonly used indicator of chronic child undernutrition and is mostly the result of insufficient nutrient intake, among other factors. Previous research showed that the consumption of animal-sourced foods (ASF), including meat, dairy, eggs, and fish, is associated with lower rates of child stunting, but reliable evidence for Africa is scant. In Africa, average ASF consumption is low. We use representative panel data from five African countries-Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda-with over 32,000 observations from children aged 0 to 5 y to show that ASF consumption increases mean child height-for-ag

SUBMITTER: Khonje MG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11648637 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature