Malnutrition and its associated factors: a cross-sectional study with children under 2 years in a suburban area in Angola

Abstract

Background The prevalence of child malnutrition in Angola is still very high, and little is known about its associated factors. The aim of this study was to identify these factors in children under 2 years in a suburban area of the country’s capital city. Methods We used data from a cross-sectional population-based study conducted in 2010. The outcomes studied were stunting and underweight. Multivariable analysis was conducted; prevalence ratios were estimated by Poisson regression with robust variance using a hierarchical model. Results Of the children studied ( N = 749), 232 [32.0% (95% CI: 28.7–35.5%)] were stunted and 109 [15.1% (95% CI: 12.6–17.9%)] were underweight. In multivariable analysis, occurrence of diarrhea (PR 1.39 [95% CI: 1.07–1.87]) and the death of other children in the household (PR 1.52 [95% CI: 1.01–2,29]) were associated with stunting and underweight, respectively. In the model composed only of distal and intermediate factors, the primary caregiver not being the mother increased the prevalence of stunting by 42% (PR 1.42 [95% CI: 1.10–1.84], and a mother’s working outside the house while not being self-employed was associated with its reduced prevalence (PR 0.55 [95% CI: 0.34–0.89]). In the intermediate model, each additional month of delay in the onset of prenatal care increased the relative prevalence of underweight by 20% (PR 1.20 [95% CI: 1.03–1.40]). Conclusions Despite the high prevalence rates of stunting and underweight, relatively few risk factors were identified for these conditions, suggesting that collective exposures are likely to play a major role in causing malnutrition in Angola. The individual factors identified can be useful for the development of strategies to deal with this public health problem. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6543-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Magnitude of Undernutrition and Associated Factors among Infants and Young Children aged 6-23 Months in Sinan district, Northwest Ethiopia Amhara regional state: A crossectional study

“…The nding of underweight obtained in this study is in line with reports of other developing countries, such as Mali, 23.9% [15], and the Central Republic of Africa (20.2%). However, this nding is higher than studies reported from the rural part of Angola 15.1% [26], Somali region Awbare 10% [13], the national report of EDHS 2016 12.5% [25] and Benna Tsemay Woreda, 15.3% [27]. This might be due to the difference in the sample size and study period between the current and previous studies.…”

“…The prevalence of stunting in this study is higher than previous studies conducted in Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey 23.2% [25]. This nding also showed that a higher percentage of stunting as compared with studies conducted in Angola 32% [26], Mali 28.4% [15], Kamba Woreda 27.8% [27] but, lower than studies done in Gondar 58.1% [14] and Somali region 56.1% [13]. The differences might be due to variation in time, sample size, study period, socio-economic characteristics of study participants, and a difference in infant and young child feeding practices.…”

Socio-economic status and the double burden of malnutrition in Cambodia between 2000 and 2014: overweight mothers and stunted children

“…However, literature regarding the relationship between maternal employment and child stunting is mixed. One study in Ethiopia found no association between maternal employment and child stunting, and another study in Angola found that maternal employment outside of the house was associated with reduced stunting prevalence (54,55) . This suggests that the contextual characteristics of maternal employment, including availability of childcare support, income earned and seasonal unemployment, among others, are critical determinants of food security, feeding practices and dietary diversity (56)(57)(58)(59)(60) .…”

Understanding malnutrition management through a socioecological lens: Evaluation of a community-based child malnutrition program in rural Uganda

“…44 Other evaluations of CMAM programs conclude that higher levels of maternal education and employment were associated with better nutrition and feeding practices, such as meal frequency or dietary diversity. 21,51,56 This suggests that increasing gender equality and promoting non-stigmatizing strategies to improve women’s empowerment would be beneficial for malnutrition management.…”