Child Health and Nutritional Status in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: A Preliminary Assessment

Over 85% of Mongolia's foreign trade and development aid, which formerly came from the USSR, have abruptly ceased causing shortfalls in almost all sectors. The UNICEF Mongolia Country Program and the East Asia and Pacific Regional Office (UNICEF/EAPRO) realized that Mongolian children are likely to suffer the most as reduced income and food availability aggravate problems associated with malnutrition. Hence, from 16 June–7 July 1992, a team from the Institute of Nutrition at Mahidol University, Thailand, collaborated with local UNICEF personnel and government health officials in designing and initiating the 1992 Mongolian Child Nutrition Survey. This paper presents the preliminary survey data of 342 randomly selected children aged 0–48 months in Ulaanbaatar. Results indicate that the four major health and nutrition problems are protein energy malnutrition (PEM), iodine deficiency disorders, vitamin D deficiency, and an unusually high rate of acute respiratory infections. Also requiring more in-depth study are low birth weight, iron deficiency anemia and vitamin A deficiency.