Characteristics of Households - Childinfo.org

Children whose measurements are outside a plausiblerange are excluded from Table NU.1. Children areexcluded from one or more of the anthropometricindicators when their weight or height (whicheveris applicable) has not been measured. For exampleif a child has been weighed but his/her height has notbeen measured, the child is included in underweightcalculations, but not in the calculations for stunting andwasting. Percentages of children by age and reasons forexclusion are shown in the data quality Tables DQ.8and DQ.9. Overall, 79 percent of children had both theirweight and height measured (Table DQ.9). Table DQ.9shows that due to incomplete dates of birth, implausiblemeasurements, and missing weight and/or height, 11percent of children have been excluded from calculationsof the weight-for-age indicator, while the figures are 19percent for the height-for-age indicator, and 21 percentfor the weight-for-height indicator.Nearly 2 percent of children under-five in Serbia aremoderately underweight, while 1 percent of children areclassified as severely underweight (Table NU.1). Some 7percent of children are moderately stunted or too short fortheir age and 4 percent are moderately wasted or too thinfor their height.Figure NU.1: Percentage of children under age 5 whoare underweight, stunted and wasted, Serbia, 2010The prevalence of underweight children is higher inurban than in rural areas. Regional distribution patternsshow that the highest proportion of underweightchildren is in Belgrade (5 percent). The percentage ofunderweight children found in the youngest age group(0–5 months) exceeds (8 percent moderately and 3percent severely) the average. Low level of wealth isalso a background characteristic contributing to theprevalence of underweight children (3 percent amongthe poorest quintile). Children whose mothers havehigher and/or high education are least likely to beunderweight (0.4 percent).Table NU.1 shows that children in Belgrade and childrenin Southern and Eastern Serbia are more likely to bestunted and wasted, than children from other regions.Moreover, girls seem more likely to be stunted andwasted than boys. The prevalence of moderate stuntingis higher among children from the poorest quintile(9 percent). The most vulnerable group in terms ofmoderate stunting are children 6–11 months of age(10 percent).There is no large difference in wasting rates betweenurban and rural children but there are notable differencesbetween regions. The prevalence of wasting ranges from2 percent in Sumadija and Western Serbia to 5 percentin Belgrade. Wasting is most prominent in the youngestage group of children 0–5 months (13 percent), amongchildren from both the poorest and richest quintiles(5 percent).Almost one in six children under the age of five in Serbiaare overweight (16 percent). Overweight affects all agegroups and is more prevalent in rural then in urbanareas. It increases as of the 6th month of life, and peaksat 23 months of age, when it affects every fourth child(24 percent).MONITORING THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN 51