Socioeconomic factors associated with severe acute malnutrition in Jamaica
Debbie S Thompson1, Novie Younger-Coleman1, Parris Lyew-Ayee2
1Tropical Medicine Research Institute, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.
Insights
Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in Jamaican infants is linked to higher rates of major crime. This suggests shared sociological roots or that community crime reflects economic hardship impacting nutrition.
Area of Science:
- Global child health
- Environmental health
- Socioeconomic determinants of health
Background:
- Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is a critical global health issue, causing over half of child deaths worldwide.
- Understanding the multifactorial drivers of SAM is crucial for effective public health interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the correlation between severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and socioeconomic factors including poverty, education, crime, and heavy metal exposure in Jamaican infants.
- To identify independent predictors of SAM in a vulnerable population.
Main Methods:
- A 14-year review (2000-2013) of infant SAM admissions in Jamaica.
- Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping of SAM cases against socioeconomic and geochemical data.
- Statistical correlation analysis between SAM prevalence and community-level variables.
Main Results:
- 375 SAM cases were identified across 204 communities.
- SAM showed a significant positive correlation with major crime (r = 0.53; P < 0.001).
- No correlation was found between SAM and educational attainment, poverty index, or heavy metal concentrations.
Conclusions:
- Major crime is independently associated with severe acute malnutrition in Jamaican infants.
- This association may indicate shared sociological origins or that community crime reflects economic instability affecting nutrition.
- Further research into the socioeconomic drivers of SAM is warranted.
Objectives:
Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is an important risk factor for illness and death globally, contributing to more than half of deaths in children worldwide. We hypothesized that SAM is positively correlated to poverty, low educational attainment, major crime and higher mean soil concentrations of lead, cadmium and arsenic.
Methods:
We reviewed admission records of infants admitted with a diagnosis of SAM over 14 years (2000-2013) in Jamaica. Poverty index, educational attainment, major crime and environmental heavy metal exposure were represented in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Cases of SAM were grouped by community and the number of cases per community/year correlated to socioeconomic variables and geochemistry data for the relevant year.
Results:
375 cases of SAM were mapped across 204 urban and rural communities in Jamaica. The mean age at admission was 9 months (range 1-45 months) and 57% were male. SAM had a positive correlation with major crime (r = 0.53; P < 0.001), but not with educational attainment or the poverty index. For every one unit increase in the number of crimes reported, the rate of occurrence of SAM cases increased by 1.01% [Incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.01 (95% CI = 1.006-1.014); P P<0.001]. The geochemistry data yielded no correlation between levels of heavy metals and the prevalence of malnutrition.
Conclusion:
Major crime has an independent positive association with severe acute malnutrition in Jamaican infants. This could suggest that SAM and major crime might have similar sociological origins or that criminality at the community level may be indicative of reduced income opportunities with the attendant increase in poor nutrition in the home.
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