Spatial distribution and associated factors of underweight in Ethiopia: An analysis of Ethiopian demographic and health survey, 2016

Abstract

Background Underweight is one form of indicators of under-nutrition, which results from the poor nutrient intake and underlying health problems. Its impact is beyond an individual and extends to a country level. It has been known from the literature that underweight has a negative effect on income and development of a country. In the context of Ethiopia, factors predicting underweight remain unknown and there is a paucity of evidence on geographical distribution of underweight among individuals aged 15–49 years. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the geographic distribution of underweight and its associated factors among individuals aged 15–49 years in Ethiopia. Methods Secondary data analysis was done on a data set consisting of 28,450 individuals and obtained from the Ethiopian Demography and Health Survey (EDHS) 2016. The spatial distribution of underweight across the country was identified by ArcGIS software. Hotspots analysis was done using Getis-Ord Gi* statistic within ArcGIS. In SaTScan software, the Bernoulli model was fitted by Kulldorff’s methods to identify the purely spatial clusters of underweight. A binary logistic regression was applied to determine factors associated with being underweight. Result In Ethiopia, the spatial distribution of underweight was clustered with Global Moran’s I = 0.79 at p-value < 0.0001. The highest underweight clusters were observed in Tigray, Gambella, eastern part of Amhara, and western and central part of Afar regions. Male individuals [AOR = 1.21; 95% CI: (1.15 1.28)], never married [AOR = 1.14; 95% CI: (1.05, 1.24)], rural residents [AOR = 1.32; 95% CI: (1.18, 1.47)], rich [AOR = 0.85; 95% CI: (0.76, 0.94)], cigarette smoking [AOR = 1.25; 95% CI: (1.07, 1.46)], drinking treated water [AOR = 0.91; 95% CI: (0.83, 0.99)] and open filed defecation [AOR = 1.17; 95% CI: (1.08, 1.26)] were found to have a significant association with being underweight. Conclusions There was a significant clustering of underweight among individuals aged 15–49 years. Gender, age, marital status, place of residence, wealth index, cigarette smoking, using untreated water and types of toilet were the significant factors of being underweight. Therefore, effective public health interventions like building safe and supportive environments for nutrition, providing socio-economic protection and nutrition-related education for poor and rural resident would be better to mitigate these situations and associated risk factors in hot spot areas. In addition, policymakers should strengthen and promote nutrition sensitive policies and activities in order to alleviate the underlying and basic causes of underweight.

Spatial distribution and associated factors of antenatal care utilization in Ethiopia in 2019: Spatial and multilevel analysis

“…At country level, it might stipulation of considering socio-demographic factors which are extremely very important to deal with in resource limited countries. Almost every studies conducted country level samples support the existence of such disparities and that is the sign for the need of region specific interventions (8,9,22,23). For instance, the current analysis showed 48%, 73%, and 62.32% of respondents were not learned, living in rural residences, and illiterates respectively and this is also supported by a plenty of evidences in literature (11,(23)(24)(25)(26).…”

“…Spatial distribution was also not random. The Northeast Amhara, west Benishangul Gumuz, Somali, Afar, north, and northeast SNNPR had poor utilization spots and good but not optimal utilization in Tigray, Addis Ababa, and Dire Dawa regions (9). The country has a health sector transformation plan (HSTP) of the increasing proportion of women having at least 4 visits of Antenatal Care from 68% to 95% (10).…”

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Under-Five Mortality in Ethiopia: Further Analysis of Ethiopian Mini Demographic and Health Surveys 2019

“…Despite all efforts made in previous decades and reports of amplified educational status in the country(2), women's education remained lagging behind the expectations. The finding is consistent with the studies conducted in the country with 66.08% participants lacking formal education from EDHS 2016 and poor educational achievement identified in the whole sub-Saharan countries (21,22,23). It might mean that educational achievements cannot be effected in a short time.…”

Exploring Spatial Variations and Determinants of Dietary Diversity Among Children in Ethiopia: Spatial and Multilevel Analysis Using EDHS (2011–2016)

“…Furthermore, previous studies conducted on childhood nutritional status identified these areas as higher risk regions for anthropometric failures. [33][34][35][36] This might show that the findings are valid and highlight that proper child feeding practice plays a significant role in children's nutritional status. Moreover, the Amhara, South and West Tigray, Afar, Somali, west Gambella, and Somali regions of Ethiopia have the highest magnitude of inadequate dietary diversity, according to spatial interpolations.…”