Prevalence and Socio-Demographic/Economic Risk Factors of Low and High Body Mass Index of Urban versus Rural Pregnant Women at Booking for Antenatal Care in Governmental Health Centers of Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Low Body Mass Index (BMI) continues to be a major health burden in addition to the emergence of new competing public health priority (high BMI) in developing countries. Abnormal BMI threatens both the health and survival of mothers and their infants, because it increases their susceptibility to life-threatening problems during pregnancy, and during and following childbirth. Although a number of studies done on nutrition, none was done in pregnancy in our country including Jimma Zone. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess prevalence and identify the risk factors associated with BMI status of pregnant women of urban versus rural residents of Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 03 to October 21, 2011 in randomly selected governmental health centers of Jimma Zone. A total of 1546 pregnant mothers (770 urban and 776 rural residents) who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Structured interviewer administered questionnaires were used for data collection: first exploratory/descriptive data analysis, then, multinomial logistic regression analysis employed using SPSS version 16.0 and significance level of 0.05. Results: Majority of, 60.8% urban and 60.2% rural resident, pregnant mothers had normal BMI at the time of their first booking for Antenatal Care (ANC) on static/outreach basis in the selected governmental health centers or Woredas (districts) of the Zone. Prevalence of low BMI (BMI ≤ 20 kg/m 2) was higher in rural (27.3%) than urban (22.3%) pregnant mothers, whereas high BMI (BMI > 24 kg/m 2

Ethiopian Orthodox Fasting and Lactating Mothers: Longitudinal Study on Dietary Pattern and Nutritional Status in Rural Tigray, Ethiopia

“…The prevalence was lower than previous findings in Tigray region (34–55%), and Dedo and Seqa-Chekorsa districts (41%), in South-west Ethiopia [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Conversely, the prevalence was higher than in other studies in the Tigray and Oromia regions of Ethiopia [ 5 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. The latter could be related to climate phenomenon ‘El Nino’, which caused the strongest famine in Ethiopia, where the impact seriously affected Tigray region.…”