Women in the central highlands of Irian Jaya, Indonesia

The weight, height and mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) were measured in 159 women of reproductive age between June and November 1991 in four remote valleys in the Eastern Central Highlands of Irian Jaya, Indonesia. The average weight was 42.3 +/- 5.2 kg and 26% weighed less than 40 kg. The average height was 141.3 +/- 9.1 cm and 30% were shorter than 140 cm. By the MUAC measurement, the nutritional status was considered to be inadequate (MUAC less than 23 cm) in 58% of the women. 8% of the women were observed to be visibly pregnant and 43% were lactating. In the same period 112 women in the Yamil valley were visited at home. They had given birth to 331 children, of whom 83 had died before the age of five years, i.e. a child mortality rate of 251 per 1000 births. Nearly half of the mortality (45%) occurred shortly after birth.