Prevalence of stunting and obesity in Ecuador: a systematic review

In low- and middle-income countries, undernutrition remains a major risk factor for child growth retardation. In addition, the emergence of obesity in recent years is adding another public health concern in that both stunting and obesity are associated with serious adverse health consequences. This review was designed to evaluate the prevalence of stunting and obesity in Ecuador.

Electronic databases were searched for articles published through February 2018 reporting the prevalence of stunting and/or obesity. Selected data were subjected to meta-analysis and pooled prevalence and their 95 percentiles (95 % CI) were calculated.

Studies were identified in Medline, Web of Science, CINAHL, Cochrane Database and Ibero-America databases.

Population of Ecuador.

Twenty-three articles were selected according to the inclusion/exclusion criteria of the study. The estimate of pooled prevalence of stunting was 23·2 % (95 % CI 23·3, 23·5) in preschoolers (age < 5 years), but was markedly higher in indigenous and rural communities. Pooled prevalence of obesity was 8·1 % (95 % CI 6·9, 9·3), 10·7 % (95 % CI 9·6, 11·7) and 10·5 % (95 % CI 9·2, 11·8) in preschoolers, school-age children (age: 5-11 years) and adolescent (age: 12-18 years), respectively. In adults (age ≥ 19 years), the rate of obesity was remarkably high as indicated by an overall estimate equal to 44·2 % (95 % CI 43·1, 45·4).

This study underlines high levels of stunting among children and obesity among adults in Ecuador, both of which are not equally distributed among the population. The magnitude of this double burden emphasises the need for sustained and targeted interventions.