The MDG on poverty and hunger : how reliable are the hunger estimates?

Two hunger-related indicators are used for tracking progress towards the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG), the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, with one of the targets being to halve the proportion of people suffering from hunger by 2015 as compared to 1990. The prevalence of people with inadequate food intake (undernourishment) is based on national food statistics, which are not very reliable in sub-Saharan Africa. The other indicator (prevalence of underweight among under-fives, based on anthropometric surveys) appears to be more reliable. The measurement of height in addition to weight allows a more refined classification of anthropometric failure. A specially designed cross-tabulation (called 'Anthro Table') facilitates the inspection of the resulting interconnected prevalence data. An example from Kenya confirms the reliability of underweight as a sound overall indicator of child growth, while the prevalence of stunting (low height) remains a useful additional indicator that can help attribute any trends in underweight to chronic and/or acute undernutrition. App., bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Book abstract, edited]