The study investigates sex differences in the prevalence of undernutrition in sub-Saharan Africa. Undernutrition was defined by Z-scores using the CDC-2000 growth charts. Some 128 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) were analysed, totalling 700,114 children under-five. The results revealed a higher susceptibility of boys to undernutrition. Male-to-female ratios of prevalence averaged 1.18 for stunting (height-for-age Z-score <−2.0); 1.01 for wasting (weight-for-height Z-score <−2.0); 1.05 for underweight (weight-for-age Z-score <−2.0); and 1.29 for concurrent wasting and stunting (weight-for-height and height-for-age Z-scores <−2.0). Sex ratios of prevalence varied with age for stunting and concurrent wasting and stunting, with higher values for children age 0–23 months and lower values for children age 24–59 months. Sex ratios of prevalence tended to increase with declining level of mortality for stunting, underweight and concurrent wasting and stunting, but remained stable for wasting. Comparisons were made with other anthropometric reference sets (NCHS-1977 and WHO-2006), and the results were found to differ somewhat from those obtained with CDC-2000. Possible rationales for these patterns are discussed.

该研究调查了撒哈拉以南非洲地区营养不良患病率的性别差异。营养不足是使用 CDC-2000 生长图表通过Z分数定义的。分析了大约 128 项人口和健康调查 (DHS)，总计 700,114 名 5 岁以下儿童。结果显示，男孩对营养不良的敏感性更高。发育迟缓的男女患病率平均为 1.18（年龄别身高Z分数 <-2.0）；1.01 用于消瘦（身高体重Z分数 <-2.0）；体重过轻为 1.05（年龄别体重Z分数 <-2.0）；1.29 同时消瘦和发育迟缓（身高别体重和年龄别身高Z-分数<-2.0）。发育迟缓和同时消瘦和发育迟缓的性别比例随年龄而变化，0-23 个月的儿童的值较高，24-59 个月的儿童的值较低。随着发育迟缓、体重不足和同时消瘦和发育迟缓死亡率水平的下降，患病率的性别比趋于增加，但消瘦保持稳定。与其他人体测量参考集（NCHS-1977 和 WHO-2006）进行了比较，发现结果与使用 CDC-2000 获得的结果有所不同。讨论了这些模式的可能原理。