Wasting manifests under conditions of severe undernutrition, causing individuals to have a low weight for their height. In Kenya, it occurs when individuals and children living in food poverty do not receive enough nutritious food.
It can also occur after a period of illness that leads to weight loss.
Quick Facts:
- Five per cent of Kenyan children aged five and below were wasted in 2022.
- In 2021, the number of child deaths attributed to wasting was 4,367.
The difference between wasting and stunting
Wasting is different from stunting, which occurs when individuals have a low height for their age. Poor nutrition and other suboptimal growth environments lead to stunting.
From the chart below, we see that the number of under-five child deaths in Kenya that were attributed to wasting was 4,367 in 2021. The number of child deaths attributed to stunting, on the other hand, was 2,304.[1]
Wasting is also different from being underweight, where individuals have a low weight for their age and manifest as a symptom of poor nutrition. Child deaths attributed to being underweight in Kenya were 4,755 in 2021.
Wasting in Kenya, according to the DHS
According to the DHS, the prevalence of wasting among Kenyan children below the age of five years was 5%, up from 4% in 2014. Moreover, 18% of Kenyan children were stunted, 10% were underweight, and 3% were overweight.[2]
Wasting was more prevalent in some counties in Kenya than others, with 22.8% of children under five in Wajir County being wasted, 22.6% in Turkana, 20.4% in Marsabit, 17.3% in Mandera, and 15.4% in Samburu.
Only 1.2% of children under five in Nyamira County and 1.5% in Kakamega were wasted.
By province, wasting was highest in North Eastern Province, where 17.8% of children below the age of five were wasted, followed by Coast at 6.3%, Rift Valley at 6.2%, Eastern at 5.7%, Central at 2.6%, Nyanza at 2.3%, and Western at 2.1%.[3]
Wasting was more prevalent among children whose mothers were thin, uneducated, and from the lowest wealth quintile.
The table below shows the percentage of children under five in each county who were wasted in 2022.[4]
|
County |
Children Wasted* (%) |
|
4.6 |
|
|
6.2 |
|
|
7.2 |
|
|
11.3 |
|
|
3.5 |
|
|
4.1 |
|
|
15.3 |
|
|
22.8 |
|
|
17.3 |
|
|
20.4 |
|
|
7.2 |
|
|
6 |
|
|
3.1 |
|
|
5.3 |
|
|
4.9 |
|
|
3.5 |
|
|
4 |
|
|
1.9 |
|
|
2.7 |
|
|
2.2 |
|
|
1.7 |
|
|
3.2 |
|
|
22.6 |
|
|
11 |
|
|
15.4 |
|
|
3.2 |
|
|
4 |
|
|
4.8 |
|
|
4 |
|
|
13.6 |
|
|
2.6 |
|
|
3 |
|
|
2.1 |
|
|
7.6 |
|
|
2.5 |
|
|
3.3 |
|
|
1.5 |
|
|
2.4 |
|
|
2.3 |
|
|
2.8 |
|
|
1.7 |
|
|
3 |
|
|
1.8 |
|
|
2.4 |
|
|
2.9 |
|
|
1.2 |
|
|
2.5 |
|
|
*The KDHS sampled children below the age of five who had a low weight for their height. These were children with a z score of 2 standard deviations below the median of the reference population. It also included those who were severely wasted or 3 standard deviations below the median. |
|
See Also
- Obese and overweight women in Kenya by County
- Wealth inequality in Kenya
- Wealth and economic wellbeing in Kenya
- Food Poverty Rate in Kenya by County
References
- IHME, Global Burden of Disease (2024) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Low birth weight”
[dataset]. IHME, Global Burden of Disease, “Global Burden of Disease - Risk Factors” [original data]. - KNBS and ICF. 2023. Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022: Volume 1. Nairobi, Kenya, and Rockville, Maryland, USA: KNBS and ICF. (p. 359).
- Anthropometry data for Kenya. HDX
- KNBS and ICF. 2023. Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022: Volume 1. Nairobi, Kenya, and Rockville, Maryland, USA: KNBS and ICF. (p. 337).
