The impact of 2009 typhoon Ketsana on nutritional status of children below five years in Southern Laos

This study assessed the nutritional status of children below 5 years pre-post typhoon Ketsana in the Oy ethnic group of Southern Laos. A prospective cross-sectional survey using a pre-post design was used. Structured questionnaires were used to obtain information on household food consumption and anthropometric measurements were carried out. There was 30% loss of domestic animals and 50% reduction in the average rice production with 20% of the households harvesting no rice at all. This affected the already strained food security situation. No significant difference was however seen between food consumption frequency pre-post typhoon Ketsana. Among the 18 subjects compared, prevalence of stunting and underweight was high (66.7% and 55.6% pre typhoon and 61.1% and 55.6% post typhoon respectively) and a McNemar test showed that the prevalence of wasting significantly decreased post typhoon Ketsana (p