Four issues in undernutrition-related health impact modeling.
Undernutrition modeling makes it possible to evaluate the potential impact of such events as a food-price shock or harvest failure on the prevalence and severity of undernutrition. There are, however, uncertainties in such modeling. In this paper we discuss four methodological issues pertinent to impact estimation: (1) the conventional emphasis on energy intake rather than dietary quality; (2) the importance of the distribution of nutrient intakes; (3) the timing of both the 'food shock' and when the response is assessed; and (4) catch-up growth and risk accumulation.
Department of Social and Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, WC1H 9SH London, UK. Noah.Scovronick@lshtm.ac.uk.
Noah
N
Scovronick
Zaid
Z
Chalabi
Paul
P
Wilkinson