Abstract

PIP: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the greatest population growth rates, the highest levels of infant and child mortality, and the poorest economies in the world. The physical quality of life index for developed countries is 80, yet for 33 SSA countries it ranges from 20.5-66. Routine monitoring of growth and nutritional status of children demonstrates their health status. The proportion of low birth weight infants is high in SSA with most countries having levels 10-20% . Further even though average birth weight consistently rose during the 1980s in SSA, the range of smallest to largest mean birth weights is lower than the medians for developed counties. Moreover 40% of 5 year olds are mild or moderately malnourished as evidenced by growth retardation and some biochemical changes, yet they exhibit or clinical signs and symptoms. Besides diarrhea often exacerbates malnutrition. Through childhood and adolescence, growth patterns (particularly among the rural Turkana pastoralists) steadily deviate from the 50th centile of US norms. Thus almost 50% of early adolescents in rural areas are below the 5th centile. Studies have found that pastoralist children tend to begin being slightly above the 5th centile of US norms and gradually fall below it. Further peak growth velocities among SSA children are low, but postpeak velocities are higher than equal velocities for children in developed countries. Thus adult heights are only between the 5th-50th centiles. Throughout childhood and adolescence, US Blacks have higher absolute levels of subcutaneous fat than children in SSA. Yet the main centralized patterning of fat in SSA children basically equals that of US Blacks, but invariably less marginal than in Whites. In conclusion, adverse socioeconomic conditions in SSA result in low levels of health at all growth phases thereby confounding their genetic potential.