Abstract
BackgroundChildhood undernutrition adversely impacts child health and is one of China’s largest health burdens. However, there is limited information on the current rate of childhood undernutrition in rural Western China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of childhood undernutrition and explore its association with socio-economic characteristics in Western China.MethodsA total of 13,532 children of 0 ~ 36 months of age were recruited as subjects from 45 counties and 10 provinces in Western China with a 3-stage probability proportion to size sampling. The composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF) was used to assess the childhood undernutrition. The association between socio-economic characteristics and childhood undernutrition was analyzed using a two-level logistic regression.ResultsBased on CIAF, the prevalence of undernutrition among children under three years of age in rural Western China in 2005 was 21.7%. The two-level logistic analysis presented a large difference in undernutrition among the 10 provinces with the highest odds ratio in Guizhou (OR: 2.15, 95%CI: 1.50, 3.08). Older children had a higher prevalence of undernutrition. As compared to girls, boys were more likely to be undernourished (OR 1.27, 95% CI: 1.16, 1.39). The likelihood of undernutrition was lower in subjects of Han ethnicity as opposed to subjects of minority ethnicities (OR 0.77, 95%CI: 0.65, 0.90). In addition, the education levels of the mother as well as wealth index were both negatively associated with childhood undernutrition.ConclusionsChildhood undernutrition still remains a large health challenge in rural Western China. This study has important policy implications for the Chinese government to improve childhood undernutrition in the surveyed areas.
Highlights
Childhood undernutrition adversely impacts child health and is one of China’s largest health burdens
Five hundred and eighty children were excluded from the study for several reasons, which included children or their parents being unavailable for measurements, children birth dates being unknown and children having improbable Z-scores or exceeding the ranges (HAZ: 6; WAZ: 5; WHZ: 5) [16]
63.8% were from the Han ethnic group and boys accounted for 57.5%
Summary
Childhood undernutrition adversely impacts child health and is one of China’s largest health burdens. There is limited information on the current rate of childhood undernutrition in rural Western China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of childhood undernutrition and explore its association with socio-economic characteristics in Western China. Due to lower socioeconomic status and inadequate health facilities, Western China may face a severe challenge of childhood undernutrition. A 1999 survey in rural Western China indicated approximately 23 percent of the children under 3 years old were stunted, 7.5% wasted and 22.6% underweight [5]. With the exception of the study mentioned above, there remains limited updated information on the rate of child undernutrition in Western China. In 2005, a largescale sampling health survey directed at children under three years old sponsored by the United Nations
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