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Risk factors for childhood malnutrition in Roma settlements in Serbia

Teresa Janevic1, Oliver Petrovic, Ivana Bjelic

  • 1MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, Global Health Initiative,Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. teresa.janevic@yale.edu

BMC Public Health
|August 24, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Poverty and social exclusion significantly increase malnutrition risks for Roma children in Serbia. Household wealth, maternal education, and urban living conditions are key factors influencing child stunting and wasting.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Pediatrics
  • Sociology

Background:

  • Roma children in Central and Eastern Europe face severe social exclusion and poverty.
  • Their health status, particularly malnutrition, is understudied.
  • This study focuses on identifying malnutrition risk factors in Serbian Roma children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the prevalence of malnutrition (stunting, wasting, underweight) in Roma children under five in Serbia.
  • To identify sociodemographic and familial risk factors associated with malnutrition in this population.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the 2005 Serbia Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey.
  • Included anthropometric and sociodemographic measures for 1192 Roma children under five.
  • Employed multiple logistic regression to analyze risk factors for stunting, wasting, and underweight.

Main Results:

  • Prevalence rates: 20.1% stunting, 4.3% wasting, 8.0% underweight.
  • Significant wealth gradient: lowest quintile children four times more likely to be stunted.
  • Maternal literacy associated with wasting; older child caregivers and urban living linked to higher malnutrition risks.

Conclusions:

  • Socioeconomic inequities, including household wealth, significantly impact child health even within impoverished communities.
  • Public health interventions should address maternal literacy, child endangerment, and urban disparities.
  • Further research is needed to understand and mitigate malnutrition drivers in marginalized Roma populations.
Abstract

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