ABSTRACT
The Haydom, Tanzania, site (TZH) of The Etiology, Risk Factors and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development (MAL-ED) Study is in north-central Tanzania, 300 km from the nearest urban center. TZH is in a remote rural district where most of the population are agropastoralists and grow maize as the staple food. The average household size is 7. The average woman achieves a parity of 6 and has 1 child death. Socioeconomic indicators are poor, with essentially no household having access to electricity, piped water, or improved sanitary facilities (compared with 14%, 7%, and 12%, respectively, reported nationally). The Demographic Health Survey Tanzania 2004 indicated that the region had high rates of stunting and underweight (40% and 31% of children aged <5 years had a height-for-age z score and weight-for-age z score, respectively, of <-2 ) and an under-5 child mortality rate of 5.8%. Human immunodeficiency virus prevalence among 18-month-old children is <0.5%. TZH represents a remote rural African population with profound poverty and malnutrition, but a strong community-based research infrastructure.