Wasting in children — all countries

Wasting in children — Botswana

Wasting in children in Botswana in 2007 — 7.3%. Ranked 20 in the world out of 31. Since 1996, the indicator has fallen by 5.9 pp.

2007 7.3% +1.4 pp vs 2000
World rank 20of 31
Period maximum 13.2%1996
Period minimum 5.9%2000

Trend over time

1996–2007 · % of children under 5

Wasting in children — Botswana, 1996–200746810121419961998200020022004200620071996: 13.2%2000: 5.9%2007: 7.3%
Change over the period: −5.9 pp Annual average: -0.54 pp

Comparison, 2007

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: Botswana

Botswana 7.3%
World 8.1%
Wasting in children — Botswana, by year Botswana All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2007 7.3
2000 5.9
1996 13.2

Southern Africa, 2007

The same indicator for neighboring countries — with links to their pages

BW Botswana 7.3 NA Namibia 7.6

About the indicator

The share of children under five whose weight falls short of the WHO norm for their height by more than two standard deviations. Unlike stunting, wasting speaks of an acute shortage of nutrition or of a recent illness, and it is reversible: with normal feeding a child regains the weight. That is exactly why wasting serves as an indicator of a current crisis — drought, war, breaks in supply — and not of long-standing poverty.

Important: The data come from sample surveys, so the years are intermittent. The aggregate by group is weighted by the number of children aged 0–14.

Source: Global Health Observatory (WHO), license CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.