The African context

Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies are widespread in African countries.

In 31 of the 38 African countries for which data are available, every second child under the age of 5 suffers from iron deficiency. The Table ranks countries, by region, according to the estimated percentage of children who are iron deficient.

In 27 countries, every third child suffers from sub-clinical vitamin A deficiency. Table ranks countries according to the estimated percentage of children with sub-clinical vitamin A deficiency.

Countries (for whom data was available) ranked by percentage of children estimated to be iron and vitamin A deficient, by Region, 2000