Skip to content
Hunger · Malawi · Southern

Child malnutrition in Machinga

42%of children under five stunted (2024 survey)Very high

Machinga ranks 8th of 35 parts of Malawi for child stunting, above Malawi's 38%.

1.8%children under 5 wasted; Malawi 1.8%
12%children under 5 underweight; Malawi 9.7%
46%children 6-59 months anaemic; Malawi 49%

Child stunting across Malawi

The same 2024 survey, every part it reports.

  1. 1NtcheuCentral48%
  2. 2NenoSouthern45%
  3. 3MwanzaSouthern44%
  4. 4ChitipaNorthern44%
  5. 5DowaCentral42%
  6. 6MchinjiCentral42%
  7. 7Zomba RuralSouthern42%
  8. 8MachingaSouthern42%
  9. 9ZombaSouthern41%
  10. 10ThyoloSouthern41%
  11. 11KasunguCentral40%
  12. 12ChiradzuluSouthern38%
  13. 13NsanjeSouthern38%
  14. 14MulanjeSouthern38%
  15. 15PhalombeSouthern38%
  16. 16MangochiSouthern38%
  17. 17DedzaCentral38%
  18. 18Blantyre CitySouthern38%
  19. 19MzimbaNorthern37%
  20. 20ChikwawaSouthern37%
  21. 21Lilongwe CityCentral36%
  22. 22LilongweCentral36%
  23. 23Lilongwe RuralCentral36%
  24. 24SalimaCentral36%
  25. 25BlantyreSouthern34%
  26. 26BalakaSouthern34%
  27. 27Zomba CitySouthern34%
  28. 28NkhotakotaCentral33%
  29. 29RumphiNorthern32%
  30. 30NtchisiCentral31%
  31. 31Blantyre RuralSouthern30%
  32. 32Mzuzu CityNorthern29%
  33. 33Nkhata BayNorthern28%
  34. 34KarongaNorthern24%
  35. 35LikomaNorthern22%

Frequently asked questions

What is the child malnutrition rate in Machinga?

In Malawi's 2024 Demographic and Health Survey, 42% of children under five in Machinga were stunted (too short for their age), 1.8% wasted and 12% underweight.

Is malnutrition in Machinga worse than in the rest of Malawi?

Machinga ranks 8th of 35 for stunting in the survey, highest first, above Malawi's 38%.

How many children are anaemic in Machinga?

46% of children aged 6 to 59 months in Machinga had anaemia in 2024, below Malawi's 49%; WHO counts 40% or more as a severe public health problem.

Is there data for cities and towns in Machinga?

The survey reports Malawi by Southern and its parts, not by city, so a town or neighbourhood in Machinga shares these figures. Local clinics and nutrition programmes keep their own records.

Source: Malawi Demographic and Health Survey 2024 (MW2024DHS), via The DHS Program, STATcompiler. Survey estimates for small regions carry wide margins; read differences of a few points as similar.

Hunger in Malawi as a whole

Undernourishment, food insecurity, the Global Hunger Index and the UN's latest estimates for the country.

Hunger in Malawi