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Adult Undernutrition in Rural Post-conflict Northern Uganda

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Handbook of Famine, Starvation, and Nutrient Deprivation

Abstract

This chapter outlines the prevalence and high-risk groups for adult undernutrition and discusses the social, behavioral, and structural mechanisms that can lead to food insecurity and undernutrition in a post-conflict setting like northern Uganda. In summary, adult undernutrition is higher in the post-conflict area of Uganda compared to areas that did not experience the war. Undernutrition varies by gender and age groups, higher among men than women, with young men and elderly being most likely to be underweight. Social and behavioral risk factors for undernutrition specific to post-conflict areas, such as substance use, and disruption of traditional values and norms will be discussed. The high prevalence of undernutrition among men may be a result of a “syndemic” interaction between mental illness, HIV, substance abuse, and undernutrition itself, which further interacts with the social and structural conditions such as gender inequality, stigma, stress, feelings of disempowerment and shame, poverty, and limited access to health care. Focusing on conventional target groups in health interventions and failure to adapt to the local context may have contributed to disruption of existing family and social structures and created other risk groups for undernutrition that are not targeted.

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Abbreviations

AIDS:

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome

ANC:

Antenatal care

BMI:

Body mass index

CMR:

Crude mortality rate

DHS:

Demographic and health survey

GAM:

Global acute malnutrition

GoU:

Government of Uganda

HDSS:

Health and Demographic Surveillance Site

HIV:

Human immunodeficiency virus

IDP:

Internally displaced person

LRA:

Lord’s Resistance Army

MoH:

Ministry of Health

NGO:

Nongovernmental organization

PTSD:

Post-traumatic stress disorder

STD:

Sexually transmitted diseases

TB:

Tuberculosis

UBOS:

Uganda Bureau of Statistics

UNHCR:

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UPDF:

Uganda People’s Defence Force

USA:

United States of America

U5MR:

Under-five mortality rate

WFP:

World Food Programme

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Global Health, Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Albani Torv 6, 5000, Odense C, Denmark

    Stine Schramm & Morten Sodemann

Authors
  1. Stine Schramm
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  2. Morten Sodemann
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Correspondence to Stine Schramm .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Diabetes & Nutritional Sci Div Sch, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

    Victor Preedy

  2. Clinical Biochemistry, University of Westminster, Westminster, United Kingdom

    Vinood B. Patel

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Schramm, S., Sodemann, M. (2017). Adult Undernutrition in Rural Post-conflict Northern Uganda. In: Preedy, V., Patel, V. (eds) Handbook of Famine, Starvation, and Nutrient Deprivation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40007-5_77-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40007-5_77-1

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