Michel Garenne, Institut Pasteur

About the Presentation

The study investigates sex differences in the prevalence of under-nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa. Under-nutrition was defined by Z-scores using the CDC-2000 growth charts. Some 128 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) were analyzed, totaling 700,114 children under-five. Results reveal a higher susceptibility of boys to under-nutrition. Male to female ratios of prevalence averaged 1.18 for stunting (height-for-age Z-score < −2.0); 1.01 for wasting (weight-for-height Z-score < −2.0); 1.05 for under-weight (weight-for-age Z-score < −2.0); and 1.29 for concurrent wasting and stunting (weight-for-height and height-for-age Z-scores < −2.0). Sex-ratios of prevalence varied with age for stunting and concurrent wasting and stunting, with higher values for children age 0-23 months and lower values for children age 24-59 months. Sex-ratios of prevalence tended to increase with declining level of mortality for stunting, under-weight and concurrent wasting and stunting, but remained stable for wasting. Comparisons were made with other anthropometric reference sets (NCHS-1977 and WHO-2006), and results were found to differ somewhat from those obtained with CDC-2000. Possible rationales for these patterns are discussed. 

About the Speaker

Mr. Michel L. Garenne is a demographer (Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, USA, 1982), affiliated with IRD, the French ‘Institute for Research and Development’, and currently working at ‘Institut Pasteur’ Paris, France, in the ‘Epidemiology of Emerging Diseases Unit’. His main research interest is on public health issues seen from a demographic perspective. In the 1980’s, he directed a series of field studies on population, maternal and child health, nutrition, vaccination and causes of death in Niakhar, a demographic surveillance system (DSS) located in Senegal, West Africa. He contributed to the establishment of other DSS (Agincourt, Nouna). He is author of numerous articles on population and health, with main focus on infectious diseases and demographic transitions in sub-Saharan Africa. He taught demography in various universities in France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, South-Africa and USA (Harvard School of Public Health). He is Honorary Research Professor at Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg.

Note: Online via Zoom with Registration Link.  Registration link will be provided one week prior to the seminar. Upon registration you will receive an automatically generated email with the direct link for the seminar.

COVID-19 Information

MPRC public events for Fall 2021 will be a mix of in person and  online via Zoom(One or the other, not hybrid).  For in person events, all event attendees must follow current protocols