ENVIRONMENTAL AND NUTRITION OUTCOMES - Food Security, Food Prices and Climate Variability - page 163

TABLE 8.2 Deinitions and thresholds for wasting, stunting and malnutrition from the IPC framework

Term Importance Meaning Critical levels

Wasting Weight-for-height

index (w/h)

While wasting is a direct outcome of nutritional and
health status, limitations in its use and interpretation
include: (1) wasting can be a late outcome indicator of a
crisis, and response mechanisms based on wasting can be
toolateformeaningfulaction;and(2)inpopulations
where levels of acute malnutrition are high outside times
of acute crisis, levels during periods of crisis can be
dificult to interpret.

A key reference threshold for Humanitarian Emergency,
where wasting is >15% of children under the age of 5.
Making adjustments to it the IPC phases, the reference
threshold for Famine/Humanitarian Catastrophe is >30%
(Howe and Devereux, 2004)

Stunting Height-for-age

growth retardation

“Growth failure in a child that occurs over a slow
cumulative process as a result of inadequate nutrition and/
or repeated infections” (IPC, 2012). As such, levels of
stunting indicate overall poverty and chronic
malnutrition, of which food insecurity may be a
contributing factor. The IPC includes stunting as it is a
measureoflong-termeffectsoffoodsecuritystatus;
whereas wasting is a better measure of acute and highly
dynamic situations.

The reference threshold of >20% is used to classify areas
that are Chronically Food Insecure. Percent with height
for age <-2 Z scores: low (<20%), medium (20-29%),
high (30-39%) and very high (≥40%)(Delpeuch,2005;
Young and Jaspers, 2009)

Malnutrition Severe acute

malnutrition is
deined by a very low
weight for height
(below -3Z scores of
the median WHO
growth standards),
and by visible severe
wasting, or by the
presence of
nutritional edema.

Acute malnutrition is a direct outcome indicator of recent
changes in nutritional status. High or increasing levels of
acute malnutrition in a population indicate current or
recent stress at individual or household level.

“5-8%indicatesaworryingnutritionalsituation;10%
corresponds to a serious nutrition situation”
WHO provides guidance as follows: low (<5%), medium
(5-9%), high (10-14%) and very high (≥15%)
Howe and Devereux (2005) reference “Famine
Conditions” as 20-40%, and “Severe Famine Conditions”
as >40%.

Source : derived from IPC, 2012.