Indicator 2.1.1 Prevalence of undernourishment

Kyrgyz Republic

Percentage

The prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) is an estimate of the proportion of the population whose habitual food consumption is insufficient to provide the dietary energy levels that are required to maintain a normal active and healthy life. It is expressed as a percentage.

Undernourishment is defined as the condition by which a person has access, on a regular basis, to amounts of food that are insufficient to provide the energy required for conducting a normal, healthy and active life, given his or her own dietary energy requirements. Though strictly related, “undernourishment” as defined here is different from the physical conditions of “malnutrition” and “undernutrition” as it refers to the condition of insufficient intake of food, rather than to the outcome in terms of nutritional status. The prevalence of undernourishment is thus an estimate of the percentage of individuals in a group that are in that condition, but it does not allow for the identification of which individuals in the group are, in fact, undernourished.

The indicator allows monitoring trends in the extent of dietary energy inadequacy in a population over time, generated as a result of the combination of changes in the overall availability of food, in the households’ ability to access it, and in the socio-demographic characteristics of the population, as well as differences across countries and regions in any given moment in time.

The indicator is computed at the population level. There are two common computation methods for this indicator.

1. Population is represented by an “average” individual for whom a probability distribution of the habitual daily dietary energy intake levels is modeled through a parametric probability density function. A custom function (R) is available to compute the prevalence of malnutrition given the four parameters of the calorie intake estimation (DEC), coefficient of variation (CV), asymmetry (Skew) and the minimum caloric intake (MDER);
2. 2100Kcal taken as the world average minimum calorie diet value. The average per capita calorie intake of a household is calculated given sex composition of the household. In Kyrgyzstan, the indicator is calculated using second method and describes proportion of population consuming less than 2,100 Kcal.

Over the years, the parametric approach informing the computation of the PoU has been criticized, based on the presumptions that undernourishment should be assessed necessarily starting at the individual level, by comparing individual energy requirements with individual energy intakes. According to such view, the prevalence of undernourishment could be simply computed by counting the number of individuals in a representative sample of the population that is classified as undernourished, based on a comparison of individual habitual food consumption and requirements. Unfortunately, such approach is not feasible for two reasons: first, due to the cost of individual dietary intake surveys, individual food consumption is measured only in a few countries, every several years, on relatively small samples; moreover, individual energy requirements are practically unobservable with standard data collection methods.

The raw data are checked for quality before being submitted for further analysis.

A compatible time series calculated using common methodology has been available since 2000.

National and subnational level, by area.

DEC can be obtained either from survey data or from Food Balance Sheets. Both sources have limitations. Comparisons of national DEC based on FBS and surveys often reveal discrepancies. In order to limit the impact of such errors, FAO has traditionally presented estimates of country malnutrition level as three-year averages, assuming that errors caused by inaccurate indices recording in each individual year, may be reduced if the average is considered for three consecutive years. The national indicator computation methodology significantly differs from that of FAO. The most common approach used in preparing national reports has been to calculate the percentage of households for which the average per capita daily dietary energy consumption is found to be below thresholds based on daily Recommended Dietary Intake, usually set at 2,100.00 kcal, based on household survey data.

http://www.fao.org/economic/ess/ess-fs/en/ http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/w0931e/w0931e16.pdf http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/Y4249E/y4249e06.htm#bm06 http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4060e.pdf http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4046e.pdf

KR National SDG Reporting Platform: https://sustainabledevelopment-kyrgyzstan.github.io

Integrated Household Budget and Labour Force Sample Survey (hereinafter IHBLFSS) contains a module on household food consumption and spending on food consumed outside the home as well as household gender and age composition.

Data are obtained through the IHBLFSS questionnaires using a cluster sample built on the latest available Census and up-to-date housing lists. The IHBLFS surveys rely on personal interviews collected using tablet computers (ComputerAssisted Personal Interview, CAPI). Data are collected on a quarterly basis and an indicator is calculated using data for the past year.

National Statistical Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic (Household Statistics Division)

Kerimalieva N.K.

Sdg_nsc@stat.kg

(0312) 32 46 91

www.stat.kg