Factors associated with stunting among children of age 24 to 59 months in Meskan district, Gurage Zone, South Ethiopia: a case-control study

Abstract

BackgroundStunting is one of the major causes of morbidity among under-five children Knowledge about risk factors of stunting is an important precondition for developing and strengthening nutritional intervention strategies. The purpose of this study was to assess factors associated with stunting among children of age 24 to 59 months in Meskan District of Gurage Zone, South Ethiopia.MethodsCommunity based case-control study was conducted among children of age 24 to 59 months. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Cases were stunted children while controls were not stunted children. A total of 121 cases and 121 controls were studied.. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0 statistical software.ResultsChildren living in households with eight to ten [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 4.44, 95% CI: 1.65, 11.95] and five to seven [AOR = 2.97, 95% CI: 1.41, 6.29] family members were more likely to be stunted than those living in households with two to four family members. Similarly, children living in households with three under-five children [AOR = 3.77, 95% CI: 1.33, 10.74] were more likely to develop stunting than those living in households with one under-five child. Children whose mothers worked as merchants [AOR = 4.03, 95% CI: 1.60, 10.17] were more likely to be stunted than children whose mothers worked as house wives. Children who breast fed for <2 years [AOR = 5.61, 95% CI: 1.49, 11.08] were more likely to be stunted than those who breast fed ≥2 years. Children who were exclusively breast fed for <6 months [AOR = 3.27, 95% CI: 1.21, 8.82]were more likely to develop stunting than children who were exclusively breast fed for the first 6 months. Children who bottle fed [AOR =3.30, 95% CI: 1.33, 8.17)] were more likely to be stunted than children who fed their complementary food using spoon/cup.ConclusionsFamily size, number of under-five children in the household, maternal occupation, duration of exclusive breastfeeding, duration breast feeding, and method of feeding complementary food were independently associated with stunting. Thus, public health intervention working on improving child nutrition should consider these determinants.

Predictors of Chronic Undernutrition (Stunting) among Under Five Children in Rural East Wollega, Oromiya Region, West Ethiopia: A Community Based Unmatched Case - Control Study

“…The odds of stunting were significantly higher in male children than female counterparts which are consistent with previous studies [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. This may be attributed to diseased status during the study period.…”

“…In addition previous local studies mainly try to show the association between socioeconomic and demographic factors such as family income/wealth status/, farm land, education status, family size, child's age and gender [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] with chronic under nutrition through cross sectional survey. Only few studies were reported about the association between chronic undernutrition and risk factors like Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices which includes pre-lacteal feeding [12,14], time of initiation of breast feeding [5], feeding of colostrum [12], duration of exclusive breast feeding [5,18], duration of breast feeding [5,14], age at complementary feeding [5,14], the type and fre quency of complementary foods [14] and methods of complementary feeding [12,14,17]as well as environmental health state like water supply, sanitation and housing conditions [11,12,15,16]. However, most of these surveys were conducted on insufficient number of study participants and used cross sectional study designs which are not appropriate to identify risk factors of chronic under nutrition (stunting).…”

Maternal perception of sickness as a risk factor of stunting in children aged 2-5 years

“…The present study is in agreement with previous studies stating that children who were breastfed for less than 24 months were more at risk for stunting, as compared to children who were breastfed for at least 24 months. (16,17) However, the present study is not in line with the study by Kamal which showed that breastfeeding for less than 24 months is not a risk factor for the prevalence of stunting. (18) Weaning is a term used to refer to the transition period in which infants still receive liquid food, either breast milk or formula milk, but are also gradually introduced to solid food.…”

Inappropriate complementary feeding practice increases risk of stunting in children aged 12-24 months

“…This study is similar to a study in Ethiopia which showed that children with less than 6 months of breastfeeding had a greater risk of stunting than children with exclusive breastfeeding during the first 6 months. (24) A study in Nepal showed that children who did not receive colostrum had a 3.40 times greater risk of stunting. (13) Low birth weight infants tend to have intrauterine growth retardation because of poor maternal nutrition.…”