Magnitude of double burden of malnutrition and its associated factors among selected in-school adolescents: Evidence from South Ethiopia

Abstract

The coexistence of both under nutrition and over nutrition or known as double burden of malnutrition (DBM) is a recent emerging nutritional problem documented in most developing countries. In Ethiopia, though there are various studies documenting the magnitude of under-five children nutritional problem, there is a research gap on DBM among adolescents. To fill the identified gap, the extent of the problem among in-school adolescents was assessed. A school based, cross-sectional study was conducted among 634 high school adolescent students in Arba Minch town, Southern Ethiopia from March 2015 to April 2015. Multi-stage sampling was employed to select the sampled participant. Following the school stratification by ownership as governmental and private, two schools were randomly selected from each category and the number of students were allocated proportionately. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic and anthropometric measurements. Weight, height, waist circumference and hip circumference measurements were taken from all participants using standard procedures. Data were entered into EPI-info version 7 and analyzed using SPSS, version21. The anthropometric data were converted into nutritional indices using WHO Anthro-Plus software, version 1.0.4. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses were done using multinomial regression model. A total of 406 from the government and 228 from the private schools were enrolled in the assessment. The magnitude of underweight, and overweight and/or obesity were 19.7% (95%CI: 16.5%, 23.2%), and 11.2% (95%CI: 8.7%, 13.7%), respectively. Father educational and occupation status, family size and wealth index were significantly associated with underweight. The odds of being underweight among whose fathers' had no formal education was 12 times [AOR=12; 95% CI=4 to 34], higher than those whose education level was above secondary. Those from family size of five or less were 80% times less likely to be underweight [AOR=0.2; 95% CI=0.12 to 0.4] than those whose family size was more than 5. Participants whose fathers' occupation was merchant were 75% times less likely to be underweight than private work [AOR=0.25; 95%CI=0.09 to 0.6]. Wealth index quintile of lowest [AOR=9.4; 95% CI=3 to 29] and second [AOR=5; 95%CI=1.8 to14.9] were 5 times more likely to be underweight than their counterparts. This study revealed the coexistence of double burden of malnutrition among in-school adolescents. Parents' education, family size and wealth index were some of the predictors which require the collaborative effort of health, education and social affair sectors to avert the prevailing problem in the community.

Magnitude and associated factors of undernutrition (underweight and stunting) among school adolescent girls in Hawzen Woreda (District), Tigray regional state, Northern Ethiopia: Cross-sectional study

“…This study showed that 32.2% of school adolescent girls were underweight. This magnitude is higher as compared to other studies conducted in Arsi Zone ( [8,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. This might be due to the low socioeconomic status in this study area.…”

Dual Burden of Malnutrition Among Adolescents of Smallholder Coffee Farming Households of Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia

“…The prevalence of thinness, stunting, and overweight/obesity were 11.6%, 15.6%, and 7.1%, respectively. The current prevalence of thinness and stunting is lower compared to many studies done in the country 22 -26 as well as in Africa: Tanzania (21%), Kenya (15.6%) and Nigeria (24.2%). 42 -44 More specifically, the stunting prevalence was much lower than what was documented in many studies in Ethiopia.…”

“…21 Studies on adolescence nutrition and its context-specific predictors in a cash crop farming setting of Ethiopia are not available so far. Pocket studies in the general population showed a prevalence of thinness among adolescents, ranging from 19.7% to 83%, 22 -26 stunting of 16% to 28.5%, 22 -24 and overweight or obesity of 2.0% to 16.7%. 26 -30 Gender, age, residence, and educational status of the adolescent as well as their parents, age of the child, household wealth index, and family size were the most commonly reported socioeconomic determinants in the above studies.…”

“…26 -30 Gender, age, residence, and educational status of the adolescent as well as their parents, age of the child, household wealth index, and family size were the most commonly reported socioeconomic determinants in the above studies. 22 -30…”

Prevalence and associated factors of adolescent undernutrition in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…We assessed the full texts of 50 remaining records for eligibility, and 28 records were further excluded by the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Finally, 22 studies were considered for the final review and meta-analysis [7,[12][13][14][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] (Fig. 1).…”