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