NUTRITION AND IMMUNIZATION SURVEY OF BOSNIAN WOMEN AND CHILDREN DURING 1993

Background. As a result of the war in Bosnia, millions of displaced pe ople and refugees have come to depend upon international donations of food aid. Methods. We conducted a survey of 120 randomly selected 'clu sters' of households in the Bosnian regions of Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zenica and Bihac (30 'clusters' in each region), Children from 6 to 59 month s and their mothers were selected and their nutritional status was exa mined. Children aged 13-25 months and infants under 16 weeks were also assessed for their immunization status and infant feeding practices r espectively. Results, There were no clinical signs of protein-energy u ndernutrition or micronutrient deficiency in children. Similarly, ther e were no clinical signs of undernutrition in adults, although 10.8% o f the resident women in Sarajevo and 11.9% in Zenica had a Body Mass I ndex (BMI) below 18.5, Total BCG coverage was 94% while the coverage f or DPT/polio was only 55% in Sarajevo and 49% in Zenica, Only 5% of mo thers were exclusively breastfeeding babies under 16 weeks. Conclusion . While the coverage of the survey was not nationwide and was limited to the first year of the war, the results indicate that in this period serious hunger and undernutrition were prevented in Bosnia, though th ey suggest that appreciable loss of weight is likely to have occurred. Immunization coverage, except for BCG, and exclusive breastfeeding le vels were poor.