Risk factors of stunting (chronic undernutrition) of children aged 6 to 24 months in Mekelle City, Tigray Region, North Ethiopia: An unmatched case-control study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 14; no. 6; p. e0217736
• Main Authors: Berhe, Kidanemaryam, Seid, Omer, Gebremariam, Yemane, Berhe, Almaz, Etsay, Natnael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 10.06.2019; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Age; Anthropometry; Biology and Life Sciences; Birth weight; Body mass; Body mass index; Body size; Breastfeeding & lactation; Caregivers; Case-Control Studies; Child, Preschool; Childbirth & labor; Children; Children & youth; Chronic illnesses; Diarrhea; Diarrhea - complications; Diet; Diet - adverse effects; Education; Ethiopia - epidemiology; Families & family life; Family size; Female; Food; Growth Disorders - etiology; Gynecology; Health aspects; Health facilities; Health risks; Human nutrition; Humans; Infant; Logistic Models; Low birth weight; Male; Malnutrition; Malnutrition - complications; Malnutrition - etiology; Malnutrition - physiopathology; Maternal & child health; Medical research; Medicine and Health Sciences; Medicine, Experimental; Midwifery; Mothers; Nutrition; Obstetrics; Odds Ratio; People and Places; Population; Preschool children; Prevalence; Public health; Regression analysis; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Social sciences; Socioeconomic Factors; Statistical analysis; Undernutrition; Weight; Ethiopia; Africa
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217736

In 2014, 159 million under 5 year-old children were stunted (suffered chronic undernutrition) worldwide. Identifying risk factors for stunting among 6 to 24 month-age children in Mekelle City is important for evidence-based interventions. Case-Control study design was undertaken in 330 children, from January to February 2016. World Health Organization (WHO) anthropometric software and statistical package for social sciences version 20 were used for analysis. Logistic regression analysis was applied. The following were identified as risk factors for stunting: mother's lack of formal education (adjusted odds ratio (AOR = 6.4)), mother height less than 150cm (AOR = 4.2), mother with a body mass index less than 18.5 kg/m2 (AOR = 3.8), childbirth weight less than 2.5kg (AOR = 5.3), household with two and above under-five children (AOR = 2.9), a WHO diet diversity score < 4 (AOR = 3.2) and repeated diarrheal episodes (AOR = 5.3). The factors associated with stunting among children aged 6 to 24 months are no formal education in mother, mother height less than 150cm, low BMI of the mother, low birth weight, low WHO DDS, number of under 5 children in the household and repeated diarrheal episodes. Nutritional interventions should give emphasis to maternal education, maternal nutrition, childbirth weight, family size, diet diversity, and diarrheal diseases.