Africa

Country or area	Underweight prevalence under 5 (%) 1990-1996	Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births) 1990	Mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) 1990-1995		Life expectancy (years) 1990-1995
Country or area	Underweight prevalence under 5 (%) 1990-1996	Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births) 1990	infant	under 5	female	male
Algeria	13	160	55	63	68	66
Angola	..	1,500	124	194	48	45
Benin	..	990	90	129	56	51
Botswana	15	250	55	92	56	52
Burkina Faso	33	930	103	171	48	45
Burundi	37	1,300	120	188	46	43
Cameroon	15	550	65	117	56	53
Cape Verde	19	..	50	67	66	64
Central African Republic	27	700	100	156	51	46
Chad	..	1,500	123	181	48	45
Comoros	19	950	91	124	56	55
Congo	24	890	89	138	54	49
Côte d'Ivoire	24	810	91	126	54	51
Djibouti	23	570	115	174	50	47
Egypt	17	170	67	80	65	62
Equatorial Guinea	..	820	117	180	50	46
Eritrea	41	1,400	107	157	51	48
Ethiopia	48	1,400	119	186	49	46
Gabon	..	500	94	138	55	52
Gambia	..	1,100	132	205	47	43
Ghana	27	740	81	119	58	54
Guinea	26	1,600	134	212	45	44
Guinea-Bissau	23	910	141	210	44	41
Kenya	23	650	71	105	55	53
Lesotho	21	610	81	105	59	56
Liberia	20	560	200	332	41	38
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	5	220	68	94	65	62
Madagascar	34	490	93	116	58	55
Malawi	30	560	148	230	42	41
Mali	31	1,200	159	198	48	44
Mauritania	23	930	101	152	53	50
Mauritius (1)	16	120	18	21	74	67
Morocco	10	610	62	81	66	63
Mozambique	27	1,500	118	182	48	44
Namibia	26	370	64	106	57	55
Niger	43	1,200	124	196	48	45
Nigeria	35	1,000	84	158	52	49
Réunion	..	..	8	9	79	69
Rwanda	29	1,300	139	233	23	22
Senegal	22	1,200	68	168	50	48
Sierra Leone	29	1,800	195	281	36	33
Somalia	..	1,600	122	189	49	45
South Africa	9	230	53	85	66	60
Sudan	34	660	85	131	52	50
Swaziland	10	560	75	111	60	55
Togo	24	640	91	139	53	49
Tunisia	9	170	43	56	69	67
Uganda	27	1,200	122	194	42	40
United Rep. of Tanzania	29	770	86	135	52	49
Western Sahara	..	..	75	100	61	57
Zaire	34	870	95	142	54	50
Zambia	28	940	111	153	45	43
Zimbabwe	16	570	70	115	52	50

Notes:

Data are shown only for countries or areas with population size of 150,000 or more in 1995 as estimated by Population Division of Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis of the United Nations Secretariat (Population Division/DESIPA). Two dots (..) indicate that data are not available.

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(1) Including Agalesa, Rodrigues and St. Brandon.

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Underweight prevalence among preschool children

The percentage of children under 5 years of age who have a weight that is more than two standard deviations below the median weight-for-age of the standard NCHS reference population. Data are for the latest available year, and those before 1990 are shown in italics. Age ranges for preschool children vary by country, but the majority of data are for children under age 5. Variations in the age ranges do not have an important effect on the results shown here. From "The worldwide magnitude of protein-energy malnutrition: an overview from the WHO Global Database on Child Growth," Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 1993, vol. 71, pp. 703-712; the WHO Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition (WHO, WHO/NUT/96.11) and updates from the database; The State of the World's Children 1997 (UNICEF).

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Maternal mortality ratio

The number of deaths of women occurring over a year while pregnant, or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the cause of death, per 100,000 live births in that year. The data were prepared by World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund, and are taken from Revised 1990 Estimates of Maternal Mortality: A New Approach (WHO/UNICEF).

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Infant mortality rate and under-5 mortality rate

The probability of dying before age 1 and the probability of dying before age 5 per 1,000 newborns. Estimated by the Population Division/DESIPA. From World Population Prospects: the 1996 Revision (United Nations publication, forthcoming) and supplementary tabulations.

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Life expectancy at birth

The average number of years that a newborn could expect to live, if he or she were to pass through life subject to the age-specific mortality rates of a given period, estimated by the Population Division/DESIPA. From World Population Prospects: the 1996 Revision (United Nations publication, forthcoming).

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(Return to Basic Social Services for All, 1997 List of BSSA Indicators)

United Nations publication, (ST/ESA/SER.A/160), Copyright (C) United Nations 1997