Nutritional status of Haitian children, 1978-1995: deleterious consequences of political instability and international sanctions.

Results from three national surveys in Haiti suggest that the prevalence of stunting, underweight, and wasting in children fell considerably between 1978 and 1990. In the following four years, rates of stunting and underweight levelled off, while that of wasting nearly doubled. Child nutrition deteriorated dramatically during a period of intense political crisis and international sanctions that included a strictly enforced trade embargo. Human welfare should be monitored whenever international sanctions are imposed to regulate a country's behavior.