Co-occurrence of nutrition problems in Honduran children

We used data from the 1996 Honduras National Micronutrient Survey to invest igate the co occurrence of vitamin A deficiency (VAD), anemia and stunting in a representative sample of Honduran children 1-5 y old. Observed frequen cies of co-occurrence were compared with frequencies expected by chance in children 12-35.9 mo old (n = 633) and 36-59.9 mo old (n = 610) for the thre e possible two-way combinations of the problems sind the three-way combinat ion. Observed frequencies were greater than expected frequencies for all ei ght comparisons, and all comparisons except for that of stunting and anemia in younger children were significant. The observed frequency of the three- way co-occurrence was 8.4% compared with an expected co-occurrence of 8.1% in younger children (P < 0.05) and 4.8% compared with 4.2%, respectively, i n older children (P < 0.001). Although there was statistical evidence for c o-occurrence, differences between expected and observed prevalences were sm all for most comparisons. Our findings suggest that having one or two probl ems does not appreciably increase the probability of having another. The ef ficiency of nutrition interventions aimed at these conditions would not be improved by targeting children with any one of the conditions; rattler, the three conditions should be treated as virtually independent when designing programs. Replication of this study in other settings is warranted.