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Impact of Universal Health Coverage on Child Growth and Nutrition in Argentina
Pablo A Nuñez1, Diego Fernández-Slezak1, Andrés Farall1
1Pablo A. Nuñez and Oscar Daniel Salomón are with the Instituto Nacional de Medicina Tropical, Misiones and CONICET. Diego Fernández-Slezak is with the Laboratorio de Inteligencia Artificial Aplicada, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Andrés Farall is with Ecoclimasol, Buenos Aires. María Eugenia Szretter is with the Departamento de Matemáticas e Instituto del Cálculo, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Claudia R. Valeggia is with the Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
Insights
Universal health coverage programs in Argentina significantly reduced child undernutrition. Stunting and underweight prevalence decreased substantially among children under five, showing positive public health impacts.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Global Health
Background:
- Child undernutrition, specifically stunting and underweight, remains a significant global health challenge.
- Argentina's universal health coverage programs, Plan Nacer and Programa Sumar, aim to provide healthcare to vulnerable populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze trends in stunting and underweight among children under five.
- To evaluate the impact of universal health coverage programs on child undernutrition.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 1.4 million children (13 million records) across 6386 health centers in Argentina from 2005 to 2013.
- Collected comprehensive data including birth/visit dates, age, gender, weight, and height.
Main Results:
- Stunting prevalence decreased by 45.0% (from 20.6% to 11.3%).
- Underweight prevalence decreased by 38.0% (from 4.0% to 2.5%).
- Observed variations in prevalence based on rural/urban settings, gender, region, age, and season.
Conclusions:
- Universal health coverage programs in Argentina have demonstrably reduced child undernutrition.
- The findings highlight the effectiveness of these programs in improving child health outcomes.
Objectives:
To estimate trends of undernutrition (stunting and underweight) among children younger than 5 years covered by the universal health coverage programs Plan Nacer and Programa Sumar.
Methods:
From 2005 to 2013, Plan Nacer and Programa Sumar collected high-quality information on birth and visit dates, age (in days), gender, weight (in kg), and height (in cm) for 1.4 million children in 6386 health centers (13 million records) with broad coverage of vulnerable populations in Argentina.
Results:
The prevalence of stunting and underweight decreased 45.0% (from 20.6% to 11.3%) and 38.0% (from 4.0% to 2.5%), respectively, with differences between rural versus urban areas, gender, regions, age, and seasons.
Conclusions:
Undernutrition prevalence substantially decreased in 2 programs in Argentina as a result of universal health coverage.
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