Spatial variation of some indicators of health reality and their relationship to human development

Abstract

Malnutrition is common among young children. Three scales were used to describe the nutritional status of children under five years of age: general malnutrition, acute malnutrition, and chronic malnutrition. General malnutrition is measured by measuring weight in relation to age. Acute malnutrition is what is called wasting and is measured by weight to height. As for chronic malnutrition, which is called stunting, it is measured by height-to-age ratio. It is noted that acute malnutrition is more prevalent in southern Iraq, while chronic malnutrition is concentrated in central Iraq. Malnutrition and pathological conditions form a continuum: those who suffer from malnutrition are more susceptible to disease, and those who suffer from diseases are more susceptible to malnutrition. In order to determine whether the child suffers from undernutrition or overnutrition problems, standard criteria are adopted for this purpose: the child is considered to be suffering from moderate malnutrition if the measurement is two standard deviations less than the median value, and he suffers from severe malnutrition if the scale is less than Three standard deviations, and on the other hand, the child is considered to be suffering from moderate overnutrition if the scale exceeds the median value by two standard deviations, and from severe overnutrition if it exceeds three standard deviations, and these standards are approved by UNICEF