Wasting in children — all countries

Wasting in children — Maldives

Wasting in children in the Maldives in 2017 — 9.1%. Ranked 26 in the world out of 30. Since 1994, the indicator has fallen by 7 pp.

2017 9.1% −1.5 pp vs 2009
World rank 26of 30
Period maximum 22.1%1997
Period minimum 9.1%2017

Trend over time

1994–2017 · % of children under 5

Wasting in children — Maldives, 1994–20175101520251994199720002003200620092012201520171994: 16.1%1995: 18.9%1997: 22.1%2001: 13.4%2009: 10.6%2017: 9.1%
Change over the period: −7 pp Annual average: -0.3 pp

Comparison, 2017

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

Maldives 9.1%
World 6.9%
South Asia 16.4%
Wasting in children — Maldives, by year Maldives All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2017 9.1
2009 10.6
2001 13.4
1997 22.1
1995 18.9 +2.8 pp
1994 16.1

Southern Asia, 2017

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

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.