#4618: re #4607 statiststical comparisons (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: steven white <stevelong@spyral.net>

from Steven White
stevelong@spyral.net

I am looking at some of the statistics given in the IPS artcle and
thinking about "the phrase" (poorest country...).  I see that 18 percent
of Mexican children under five are stunted in growth due to
malnutrition, and 32 percent is the figure for Haiti.  The number of
children under five in Mexico is 11,396,823 and in Haiti there are
948,055 (Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, International Data Base).
Thus, the number of stunted children in Mexico is 11,396,823 x 0.18 =
2,051,428.  In Haiti there are 948,055 x .032 = 303,337 stunted
children, about 1/7 as many.  In terms of malourished children, there
are several "Haitis" happening inside the borders of Mexico, and
probably many more around the hemisphere.  There are many, many poor
people all over the Western Hemisphere living and dying in desperate
conditions. The "poorest nation" statistic merely describes the ratio of
wealthy people that are living in the same political boundary.