Nutritional status of Bedouin children aged 6–10 years in Lebanon and Syria under different nomadic pastoral systems*

Supported partially by a grant from World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office—Alexandria.

This paper examines the nutritional status of Bedouin children under different nomadic pastoral systems. Anthropometric measurements (height and weight) and food intake were collected on 296 children aged 6–10 years from the Bedouin population of Lebanon and Syria. The sample included children from the semi‐settled Beqa'a Bedouins involved in livestock production and seasonal labor; the transhumant Bedouins of the Akkar area; the true nomads in the Palmyra desert; and the settled Bedouins herding governmental livestock in exchange for food and pay in Aleppo desert. Bedouin children of the Beqa'a area tended to have improved height and weight in all age groups. Z score distribution of Bedouin children as compared by their own position within the reference population (NCHS) manifested moderate to severe stunting (ht/age). Regarding height, 6.8% of the Beqa'a valley chidren, 14.8% of Akkar plains children, 24.0% of Palmyra desert children, and 41.1% of Aleppo desert children were below ‐2 S.D. for ht/age. A large proportion of the study children fell between ‐1 S.D. and ‐2 S.D. for ht/age and wt/age (ranging from 41.8%‐70.5%, and 26.3%‐67.5% respectively) indicating mild malnutrition. Consistent with anthropometric results, dietary intake data showed that low intakes in all macro and micronutrients were prevalent in all populations studied, these low intakes being more pronounced in Bedouin children from Aleppo, Palmyra, and Akkar than children in Beqa'a valley. The results show that Bedouin children suffer from stunting and underweight which is partly related to the low intake in most macro and micronutrients. More deprived nutritional status was noted in children of settled Bedouins who received rations subsidized by the government, and better nutritional status was associated with more advantageous socio‐economic activities integrating livestock, crop production, and off‐farm income.

Key words:

• Nutritional status
• food consumption
• nomadic systems
• anthropometry

Notes

Supported partially by a grant from World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office—Alexandria.