{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,25]],"date-time":"2026-06-25T19:17:52Z","timestamp":1782415072814,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,14]],"date-time":"2025-10-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760400000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Digestive congenital anomalies (DCA) remain a major yet unevenly distributed cause of death and disability worldwide. We aimed to quantify global, regional, and national trends in DCA prevalence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from 1990 to 2021.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>We analyzed Global Burden of Disease 2021 data. Age-standardized rates and estimated annual percentage changes were calculated for five age groups: &amp;lt;1 year, 2\u20134 years, 5\u201314 years, 15\u201319 years, and 20\u201354 years. Future trajectories to 2036 were projected using an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>In 2021, infants accounted for the largest share of the burden, although their absolute incidence declined by 9% relative to 1990. High\u2013socio-demographic index (SDI) regions achieved pronounced reductions in both mortality and DALYs, whereas low-SDI regions showed rising trends. Projections indicate a continued global increase in prevalence across all age groups, alongside further declines in infant and child mortality.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Persistent inequities underscore the need for strengthened maternal\u2013neonatal services, early surgical access, and targeted resource allocation in low-income settings. This integrated epidemiological overview provides an evidence base for prioritizing DCA within national child-health agendas and for monitoring progress toward Sustainable Development Goal targets.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1640700","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,14]],"date-time":"2025-10-14T05:29:48Z","timestamp":1760419788000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Global, regional, and national differences in the incidence and mortality of digestive congenital anomalies from 1990 to 2021, with projections for future trends"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Baihui","family":"Yan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peng","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1219","DOI":"10.1148\/radiographics.19.5.g99se041219","article-title":"Congenital anomalies of the small intestine, colon, and rectum","volume":"19","author":"Berrocal","year":"1999","journal-title":"Radiographics"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"145","DOI":"10.1159\/000075064","article-title":"Abnormal intestinal histology in neonates with congenital anomalies of the gastrointestinal tract","volume":"85","author":"Condino","year":"2004","journal-title":"Neonatology"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.1055\/s-2004-815852","article-title":"Alimentary tract duplications in children: high incidence of associated anomalies","volume":"14","author":"G\u00e1lvez","year":"2004","journal-title":"Eur J Pediatr Surg"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"915","DOI":"10.1378\/chest.126.3.915","article-title":"Long-term complications of congenital esophageal atresia and\/or tracheoesophageal fistula","volume":"126","author":"Kovesi","year":"2004","journal-title":"Chest"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"670","DOI":"10.1002\/bdr2.1683","article-title":"Infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis in patients with esophageal atresia","volume":"112","author":"Ten Kate","year":"2020","journal-title":"Birth Defects Res"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"54","DOI":"10.1038\/s41572-023-00465-y","article-title":"Hirschsprung disease","volume":"9","author":"Montalva","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nat Rev Dis Primers"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-030-41724-6","volume-title":"Pediatric surgery: A comprehensive textbook for Africa","author":"Ameh","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1781","DOI":"10.1007\/s00431-023-04865-w","article-title":"Global, regional, and national incidence and mortality of congenital birth defects from 1990 to 2019","volume":"182","author":"Kang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Eur J Pediatr"},{"key":"ref9","article-title":"Esophageal atresia. 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