Wasting in children — all countries

Wasting in children — Marshall Islands

Wasting in children in the Marshall Islands in 2017 — 3.5%. Ranked 12 in the world out of 30.

2017 3.5%
World rank 12of 30
Period maximum 3.5%2017
Period minimum 3.5%2017

Trend over time

2017–2017 · % of children under 5

Change over the period: +0 pp

Comparison, 2017

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

Marshall Islands 3.5%
World 6.9%
Wasting in children — Marshall Islands, by year Marshall Islands All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2017 3.5

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.