The death rate in the age-group 1–4 years as an index of malnutrition in tropical countries

Abstract

1) A case is made out to suggest why it is reasonable in the West Indies to accept the death rates at ages 1 to 4 years per 1,000 births as a more accurate index of public health than the infant death rate, which is the standard for the more advanced and wealthy countries of the world. 2) A comparison of the ratio of the death rate from 1 to 4 years per 1,000 births with that of the infant death rate shows, as might be expected, that the West Indies have still a long way to go before they can approximate to the current figures for England and Wales, and that in the case of the island of Antigua, where good records have been kept for over a hundred years, the fall in the mortality at age 1 to 4 years, although well under way, has not been relatively nearly as fast as that of England and Wales over the same period.