Community Nutrition

COMMUNITY NUTRITION 3 (1+2)

Lesson 7 : Assessment of Nutritional Status Based on Vital Statistics

Mortality rate

1. Age-specific mortality rates : Some types of malnutrition have a particularly high incidence at certain ages, so that the mortality rates at this specific age-period have been suggested as indicators of the incidence of certain types of malnutrition.

2. Cause specific mortality rates: Mortality due to a special cause e.g. Diarrheal diseases is called cause specific mortality.

1. Mortality rates:

• Death rate: is defined as number of deaths per 1000, estimated midyear population in one year. It measures the rate at which deaths are taking place for various causes in a given population during a specified period.
  It may be calculated from the following formula
  
  

  Death rate =

  
  
• Maternal mortality rate (MMR): is the number of maternal deaths pertaining to child births per 1000 live births.
  
  

  MMR =

  
  
• Infant mortality rate (IMR): Is the number of babies dying in the first year of life per 1000 live births.
  
  

  IMR =

  
  
• Neonatal mortality rate: Is defined as deaths occurring within 4 weeks or 28 days of birth.
  
  

  Neonatal mortality rate =

  
  
• Peri-natal mortality rate: This is the number of deaths of infants under 1 month and still births per 1000 total births. This rate gives an index of maternal nutrition though many other factors like genetic makeup of mother and child, the degree of exposure to infections and the standard of medical care available also influence.
  
  

  Peri natal mortality rat e=

  
  
• Still birth rate: Is the foetal deaths occurring after 28 completed weeks of gestation
  
  

  Still birth rate =



• Toddler Mortality rate: This is the number of deaths between 1 to 4 years per 1000 toddlers born. The manifestations and effects of malnutrition are well known to be severe in toddlers.