Malnutrition in the OIC Member
Countries: A Trap for Poverty
years when up to one million people migrated to Russia, thus increasing household income and
reducing levels of food insecurity. However, downturns in the Russian economy, which led to
over 200,000 Tajik young people being banned from working there, has severely reduced
remittances and contributed to increased rates of food insecurity and malnutrition (Interview,
local expert on health and social issues). The fact that malnutrition rates have recently started
to increase again is a worrying development, especially in the context of increasing levels of
food insecurity.
The prevalence of anaemia has steadily diminished over the whole period. It decreased by a
third (from 41.1% in 1999 to 30.7% in 2009), corresponding to a decline of roughly 1
percentage point per year.
The rate of wasting peaked in 2001, at 19.4%. It then stabilised between 6.1% in 2002 and
4.3% in 2009 before to rise again to 9.9% in 2012. Finally, the proportion of overweight
children in 2012 is the same to that of 2005 (6.7%), whereas it went down to 4.3% in between
(in 2009).
Figure 36: Evolution of Child Malnutrition between 1999 and 2012, Tajikistan
50
45
40
35
30
25
26,8
20
15
10
5
0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2007 2009 2012
9 Stunting 9 Wasting 9 Overweight 9 Anaemia
Source: 1CF International, 2015. The DHS Program STATcompiler. Funded by USAID.
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