The Economic Consequences of Malnutrition in Lao PDR: a Damage Assessment Report

When indicators of suboptimal child nutrition are widespread, the aggregate burden on national economic growth can be significant. Data from the Lao Social Indicator Survey 2011 (LSIS) and the National Nutrition Survey of 2006 (NNS) suggest nearly 2 million Lao citizens, mainly women and children, suffer some form of undernutrition – and cannot achieve their full potential as students, workers, citizens and parents. The 10 indicators of undernutrition summarized in Table 1 suggest undernutrition represents a significant public health problem according to WHO criteria – and indicates a heavy burden on the human, social and economic development of Lao PDR

The Economic Burden of Malnutrition in Pregnant Women and Children under 5 Years of Age in Cambodia

Malnutrition is locked in a vicious cycle of increased mortality, poor health, impaired cognitive development, slow physical growth, reduced learning capacity, inferior performance, and ultimately lower adult work performance and productivity. The consensus of global scientific evidence indicates that lowering the rates of malnutrition will be an indispensable component of any successful program to raise the quality of human capital and resources. This study used a “consequence model” to apply the coefficient risk-deficit on economic losses, established in the global scientific literature, to Cambodian health, demographic, and economic data to develop a national estimate of the value of economic losses due to malnutrition. The impact of the indicators of malnutrition analyzed represent a burden to the national economy of Cambodia estimated at 266 million USD annually (1.7% of GDP). Stunting is reducing the Cambodian economic output by more than 120 million USD, and iodine deficiency disorders alone by 57 million USD. This economic burden is too high in view of Cambodia’s efforts to drive economic development. The government should rapidly expand a range of low-cost effective nutrition interventions to break the current cycle of increased mortality, poor health and ultimately lower work performance, productivity, and earnings