Risk Factors for Stunting in Children under the Age of 5 in Rural Guatemalan Highlands

Abstract

Background: Previously, a study conducted by UNICEF found that malnutrition affects approximately 80% of the indigenous children in Guatemala. Objective: Identify prevalence and risk factors for stunted growth in communities surrounding Lake Atitlán, Guatemala. Methods: Height-forage measurements of children under the age of five, N = 84, determined stunting prevalence and presumed burden of malnutrition in this region of the Guatemalan highlands. Mothers of a subset of this sample, N = 29, were interviewed to assess factors contributing to stunting. Analysis assessed the following risk factors: inadequate nutrition, increased infectious disease risk, high rate selfreport illness, inadequate breastfeeding, and inadequate utilization of prenatal care. Findings: The majority of children under the age of five were stunted (65.6%) and likely malnourished. ANOVA analysis showed significant differences in mean height-forage Z scores (HAZs) between groups with and without adequate nutrition (F = 7.069, p = 0.013), as well has with and without high rates of self-report illness (F = 6.894, p = 0.014). Both groups with inadequate nutrition (mean HAZs =-2.9, 95% CI = [-3.58,-2.24]) and high rates of self-report illness (mean HAZs =-2.8, 95% CI = [-3.13,-2.38]) had mean HAZs that are indicative of stunting. No other risk factors were associated with stunting. Conclusion: These pilot study results offer methods by which to obtain baseline data for assessing nutritional and public health interventions to improve stunting and malnutrition status as well as the health outcomes of children in rural, indigenous communities.

The Development of Early Detection Tool for Stunting Prediction

“…In this case, unfiltered sources of drinking water and bad personal hygiene make it easier for infectious diseases to occur. This is in line with other studies which state that there is a relationship between environmental hygiene and sanitation with the occurrence of stunting as these condition can predict the occurrence of stunting in children 33 .…”

“…Likewise, for not consuming sufficient amount of milk. 33 . Whereas, a reserach in Uganda on millet porridge as the main food for children reveals that they could only meet <60% of the recommended daily nutritional intake 34 .…”

Cumulative Febrile, Respiratory, and Diarrheal Illness among Infants in Rural Guatemala and their Association with Neurodevelopmental and Growth Outcomes

“…A smaller study in the Guatemalan highlands found that indigenous children (mean age 2.6 years) with >1 caregiver-reported illness (all-cause) per month did have increased risk of stunting, though they did not measure neurodevelopment. 35 Other potential explanations are that pathogens in this community differ and/or that background rates of diarrhea are high enough in this community 36 that our case definition (caregiver report of > 3 loose stools/24 hours) did not adequately differentiate children with and without illness, or what is considered abnormal. Additionally, the type of inflammation and inflammatory pathways in diarrheal illness may be different than respiratory diseases, or they may be pathogen-specific to organisms less prevalent in this community.…”

Family Biopsychosocial Characteristics on Stunting Events in Children in Stunting Locus Areas Tapalang Barat District

“…Growth hormone affects cortical bone deposition and may stimulate growth and height gain. To anticipate this, an adequate nutritional intervention must be carried out [5].…”