IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/ajfand/334110.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nutritional status research in Uganda: A critical review and trend analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Ogenrwoth, Brian
  • Akumu, Grace
  • Mugisha, Johnny
  • Muyonga, JH

Abstract

Uganda is ranked 77th out of 95 countries in terms of under-nutrition prevalence. Under-nutrition is closely linked to 40% of all mortalities among children below 5 years of age. It is projected that by 2050 malnutrition in all its dimensions combined will cost the country US $ 7.7 billion (19 trillion Uganda Shillings) in lost productivity, yet timely investing in nutrition would translate into an economic gain of US$ 1.7 billion (4.3 trillion Uganda shillings) through enhanced productivity. A critical review and trend analysis, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) approach was carried out. This was aimed at critically assessing the status of nutrition and identifying existing research gaps and intervention options. In addition, the study was focused on generating evidence for nutrition policy discourse. The review mainly focused on peer reviewed publications, covering the period from 2011 to 2022. A total of 215 materials were downloaded, 28 articles were used for literature review and 14 were used for further synthesis and trend analysis. It was found that stunting among children under 5 years was higher in the rural areas (37%) than in the urban areas (34%). Wasting and underweight among the same age group were most rampant in northern region, with prevalence rates of 7.5% and 14.6%, respectively, while stunting was most prevalent in western region (33.2%). Available data showed increasing prevalence of obesity and overweight. The proportion of women 15-49 years who were overweight or obese increased from 17% in 2006 to 19% in 2011 and 24% in 2016. On the other hand, prevalence of thinness among women aged 15-49 years declined from 12% in 2006 and 2011 to 9% in 2016. The review unearthed dearth of literature on nutrition for the elderly, adolescents and young adults. It would be prudent to invest in research to bridge the identified gaps. The outcome of such studies would be instrumental in informing nutrition policy in Uganda.

Suggested Citation

  • Ogenrwoth, Brian & Akumu, Grace & Mugisha, Johnny & Muyonga, JH, 2022. "Nutritional status research in Uganda: A critical review and trend analysis," African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), vol. 22(08).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:ajfand:334110
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/334110/files/Muyonga22340.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Namugumya, Brenda Shenute & Candel, Jeroen J.L. & Talsma, Elise F. & Termeer, Catrien J.A.M., 2020. "A mechanisms-based explanation of nutrition policy (dis)integration processes in Uganda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    2. Brenda Shenute Namugumya & Jeroen J.L. Candel & Elise F. Talsma & Catrien J.A.M. Termeer, 2020. "Towards concerted government efforts? Assessing nutrition policy integration in Uganda," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(2), pages 355-368, April.
    3. Shively, Gerald E. & Hao, Jing, 2012. "A Review Of Agriculture, Food Security And Human Nutrition Issues In Uganda," Working papers 135134, Purdue University, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Olutayo Adeyemi & Mara Bold & Nicholas Nisbett & Namukolo Covic, 2023. "Changes in Nigeria’s enabling environment for nutrition from 2008 to 2019 and challenges for reducing malnutrition," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(2), pages 343-361, April.
    2. Nalunga, Asha & Mugisha, Johnny & Walekhwa, Peter & Smith, Jo, 2019. "The dynamics of Household labor allocation to biogas production, farm and non-farm activities in central Uganda," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 461-467.
    3. Proscovia Renzaho Ntakyo & Marrit Berg, 2019. "Effect of market production on rural household food consumption: evidence from Uganda," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(5), pages 1051-1070, October.
    4. Erin Lentz & Elizabeth Bageant & Sudha Narayanan, 2021. "Empowerment and nutrition in Niger: insights from the Women’s Empowerment in Nutrition grid," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(5), pages 1227-1244, October.
    5. Montalbano, P. & Pietrelli, R. & Salvatici, L., 2018. "Participation in the market chain and food security: The case of the Ugandan maize farmers," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 81-98.
    6. Lazzaroni, Sara, 2013. "Weather variability and food consumption: Evidence from rural Uganda," 2013 Second Congress, June 6-7, 2013, Parma, Italy 149774, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA).
    7. Pierluigi Montalbano & Rebecca Pietrelli & Luca Salvatici, 2017. "Market chain participation and food security: the case of the Ugandan maize farmers," Working Papers 2/17, Sapienza University of Rome, DISS.
    8. Lazzaroni, S. & Bedi, A.S., 2014. "Weather variability and food consumption," ISS Working Papers - General Series 51272, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    9. Namugumya, Brenda Shenute & Candel, Jeroen J.L. & Talsma, Elise F. & Termeer, Catrien J.A.M., 2020. "A mechanisms-based explanation of nutrition policy (dis)integration processes in Uganda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:ajfand:334110. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.ajfand.net/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.