Study of Malnutrition in Children Under Five in Peru Using the Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis

Abstract

This research presents the application of the Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis to assess the type of spatial pattern that follows the cases of patients with malnutrition in children under 5 years who were attended in the Ministry of Health of Peru (MINSA, after its Spanish abbreviation) in 2017. The results demonstrated that malnutrition cases in children under 5 years were non-homogeneously distributed throughout Peru in 2017. The boxplot identified that a larger number of malnutrition cases in girls under five years was presented in the departments of Piura, Loreto, and Ucayali; and in the case of the boys was in Piura, Cajamarca, and Ucayali. The rates map evidenced that a higher rate of malnutrition was presented in the departments of Piura, Cajamarca, Loreto, Ucayali, Madre de Dios, and Ayacucho. The LISA indexes found the presence of significant clusters in departments with a high demand for this disease as in Loreto, as well as significant clusters in departments with less demand as in Lima, Moquegua, and Puno. The Moran’s Index indicated that the spatial dependence is positive and almost nil.