The 2016 National Anthropometric Nutrition Survey and Mortality Retrospective collected data to measure the levels of nutrition and malnutrition present in children ages 0-59 months and women ages 15-49 years in Mali. Children over the ages of 59 months and women outside the 15-49 years range were excluded. The survey also sought to assess child morbidity, estimate retrospective mortality rates, and identify groups vulnerable to malnutrition.

The survey utilized the UNICEF Standardized Monitoring and Assessment for Relief and Transition (SMART) methodology for data collection. Child anthropometric measurements and retrospective mortality data were recorded through two questionnaires. The sample size included 8,164 children and 8,625 women from 7,599 households. The sample frame was based on the 2009 Population and Housing Census.