Assessment of Stunting, Wasting Rate and Associated Factors among Children 0-59 Months at Jigjiga Town in Somali Regional State, Ethiopia

Yimer Mihrete

doi:10.21767/2577-0586.100033

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the stunting and wasting rate among children less than five years of age and its associated factors in Jigjiga town. A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in Jigjiga site from March to May, 2017. A total of 128 household, mother-child pairs were included in the study. A multivariate logistic analysis was carried out to identify factors associated with stunting and wasting, separately. The prevalence of stunting and wasting among children aged 0-59 were (34.9%) and 50.4% respectively. This result revealed that illiterate mothers were (58.6%) higher than literate mothers 42.4%, in that matter the child whose mother is illiterate are most likely to be stunted or wasted than children whose mother is literate. This might be lack of awareness about the nutritious food to meet physiological status of child and unavailability of latrine. In general, the magnitude of stunting and wasting exists as a severe public health concern. Therefore, improving socio-economic status, latrine and maternal postnatal vitamin-supplementation coverage are essential to mitigate the high burden of stunting.

Highlights

Wasting and stunting are global public health problems that frequently co-exist. They are usually separated in terms of the policy, guidance, programming and financing, though both wasting and stunting are manifestations of under nutrition caused by disease and poor diet, there are critical gaps in our understanding of the physiological relationship between them, and how the interventions for one may affect the other
Sex of child: The report has shown that sex of child has much contribution in stunting and wasting development
In area where there is no enough food on table for children, male children are more susceptible to stunting than female children

Summary

Introduction

Wasting and stunting are global public health problems that frequently co-exist. They are usually separated in terms of the policy, guidance, programming and financing, though both wasting and stunting are manifestations of under nutrition caused by disease and poor diet, there are critical gaps in our understanding of the physiological relationship between them, and how the interventions for one may affect the other. Thin and short were used in the past to refer to children with abnormal health and nutritional status [1]. It soon became apparent that stunting is generally more common than wasting, and in some populations, in Asia, over 50% of children could be classified as stunted [1]

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