Stunting and Its Associated Factors Among Children Age 6-59 Months at Debre Tabor Town, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019; a Community Based Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Globally in U5 year children, greater than half of all deaths are attributable to under-nutrition. Stunting is one of the major under-nutrition problems in children, especially in developing countries like Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the prevalence of stunting and its associated factors among children age 6-59 months at Debre tabor Town, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019. Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among children age 6-59 months at Debre Tabor town, from February to March 2019. Data were collected using a pretested, semi-structured an interviewer-administered questionnaire adapted from WHO stepwise surveillance (WHO STEPS). A systematic random sampling technique was used to engage 620 parent-child pairs. Data was entered into Epi-info version 7 and exported to SPSS version 22 for analysis. Height for age Z score was computed using WHO Anthro plus software. Both the bivariable and a multivariable logistic regression analyses were computed and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) at p-value <0.05 was used to determine the statistically significant association between factors and the outcome variable.Result: The prevalence of stunting in this study was 46% (95% CI: 41.9%-50.3%). Age of the child [AOR=1.98, 95%CI: (1.08, 3.67)], occupation of the mother [AOR=2.13, 95% CI: (1.16, 3.92)], educational status of the father [AOR=2.88, 95% CI: (1.45, 5.70)] and occupation of the father [AOR=5.05, 95% CI: (2.46, 10.36)] were variables significantly associated with stunting.Conclusion: The prevalence of stunting was found to be high among children age 6-59 months in the study area as compared to the national average. The age of the child, occupation of the mother, the educational status of the father, and occupation of the father were factors associated with stunting? Therefore, attention should be targeted to improve the occupational and educational status of the parents.

Nutritional Status of Child of Well-Nourished Mother Vs Malnourished Mother

“…An undernourished mother gives birth to a low birth weight baby who develops into an underweight child or adolescent with poor nutrition and infections, continuing the vicious life cycle method. Even while malnutrition is present in the high income 12,13 In this study, there was a substantial correlation between maternal illiteracy and body mass index with child malnutrition with a higher prevalence of illiteracy among mothers of malnourished children. According to maternal demographic characteristics, 72.2% mothers of malnourished children were illiterate compared to 37.5 % mothers of well-nourished children.…”

Epidemiology of stunting in children aged 6–59 months, an unresolved chronic nutritional problem in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…All included studies were both cross-sectional and case-control. Among the included studies, three were conducted in the Afar region, 22 – 24 10 studies from the Amhara region, 25 – 34 one study from Benishangul-Gumuz, 35 and one study from the Sidama region, 36 and along with five studies, research was conducted in the Oromia region. 3 , 37 – 40 Additionally, five studies were carried out in the SNNP of Ethiopia, 27 , 41 – 44 with two studies each from the Somali region 45 , 46 and the Tigray region, 47 , 48 respectively.…”