The burden and correlates of childhood undernutrition in Tanzania according to composite index of anthropometric failure

Abstract

Background: Undernutrition is a public health problem worldwide. Tanzania has made significant achievements in the reduction of childhood undernutrition over the past two decades. However, the exact burden of undernutrition was underestimated when using conventional indices of stunting, wasting and underweight. The objective of this study was to determine the overall prevalence of undernutrition, describe the trends and examine the correlates associated with undernutrition among children under-five years using the composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF). This study aims to understand the real burden and drivers of undernutrition to improve design, implementation and monitoring of appropriate interventions to ameliorate all form of childhood undernutrition in the country. Methods: About 37,205 mother-child pairs were retrieved and analyzed from the Tanzania Demographic and

Tracking Progress in Anthropometric Failure Among Under-five Children in Ethiopia: A Geospatial and Multilevel Analysis.

“…The nding of this study indicated that children whose mothers are a thin BMI below 18.5 had more anthropometric failures as compared to children whose mothers had normal body weight BMI 18.5-24.95. This nding is in line with other studies conducted in sub-Saharan Africa [11,26] and India [15]. This group consists of more at-risk population segments for children anthropometric failure.…”

“…This study indicated that children in the youngest age group of 0-5 months had a lower risk of anthropometric failure than children in the older age group. This nding was consistent with studies conducted in Tanzania [11] and Yemen [16]. This could be explained by the fact that children at their younger stage are getting a diet that is richer and complete or vulnerable to disease when a child grows old.…”

“…Factors that have been associated with child under-nutrition based on the UNICEF general conceptual framework for causes of malnutrition [17] and a review of prior similar studies were included in the study [9,11,16,18]. A series of information was extracted from three round of EDHSs including sociodemographic and economic characteristics: sex, age of the child, educational level of the mother, maternal age at rst birth, place of residence, wealth index, place of delivery, maternal marital status, Body Mass Index (BMI) of the mother, ANC(Antenatal Care) visit, time of initiation of breastfeeding, maternal employment status, paternal employment status, number of children born, birth order, preceding birth interval, and symptom of fever, cough, and diarrhea in the child.…”

“…Previous studies have identi ed socio-demographic factors that are associated with anthropometric failures in developing countries. For example, the age of the women at the survey time, marital status, education level, employment status, and a total number of children have were reported to be signi cantly associated with an increased risk of undernutrition among underve children [9][10][11]. However, the research ndings in terms of the direction and the strength of the associations have been mixed.…”

“…Previous studies done on under-nutrition revealed that Poor socioeconomic conditions, food insecurity, poverty, and adverse conditions such as illness or inadequate feeding practices can drastically alter the growth pattern of children [9,11,15,16]. Further, the social context in which the children are embedded may also play a role in in uencing their nutritional status and health outcomes.…”