Prevalence of energy malnutrition in children under five years and service delivery responses in Nepal

Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM) is a very common problem in children under five years of age in Nepal. The purpose of this review is to summarise the situation of PEM in children under five in Nepal and the service delivery mechanisms carried out by Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) through a review of published literature. A search of the Google Scholar and PubMed databases was conducted using the following keywords; Child health services; protein energy malnutrition; stunting; wasting; underweight; child, preschool; nutrition; nutrition policy; Nepal. Prevalence of PEM among children under five was identified and classified based on the indicators defined by United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Forty nine percent of children under five years of age were stunted, 39% were underweight, and 13% were wasted. Stunting appeared to be more common in mountain and hilly areas while wasting and underweight were more common in the Terai areas. A comparative study of PEM among children under five years in the SouthEast Asia Region showed that Nepal had the second highest stunting rate. To control PEM, the MOHP has introduced various nutritional strategies, programmes, with PEM specific objectives. This review of the literature reports a modest decline in the level of stunting, a marked decline in the level of children underweight, but a slight increase in the level of wasting. Well designed programmes were not properly executed