Determinants and Prevalence of Stunting Among Children Under the Age of Five in Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Stunting is a serious problem related to public health mostly affecting children under five years of age in various middle and low-income countries globally. It is a situation in which the growth and advancement of the human body is reduced.Objective: This study is purposed to figure out the key factors of stunting and the prevalence of stunting among children under the age of five in Pakistan.Methods: A comprehensive search on key databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect was made for relevant articles published between 2005 to 2022. For data reporting and analysis PRISMA checklist 2020 was used and a sum of 13 articles describing the determinants and prevalence of stunting in different rural and urban communities of Pakistan were selected for this systematic review.Results: The prevalence of stunting among children under the age of five ranges from 18.58% to 61%, with a pooled prevalence of 39.26%. 12 out of 13 studies mentioned the mother's lack of education (prevalence range:16.6%-98.3%), 10 studies touched upon lower socioeconomic status (prevalence range: 37%-77.8%),8 studies mentioned residence in rural areas (prevalence range: 40.7%-79%), 5 studies showed unsanitary conditions (prevalence range:10.4%-77%), 6 studies mentioned overcrowded families (prevalence range: 26%-64.1%) are the main determinants of stunting among children under the age of five in Pakistan. Only one article brought up that 33.9% of stunted children were underweight at birth and 39.1% children stunted children started weaning before the age of 6 months.Conclusion: The most recurrent factor was the mother's lack of education, followed by lower socioeconomic status, then residence in rural areas, then overcrowded families, followed by unsanitary conditions and lastly underweight children at birth and weaning age of less than 6 months. The overall pooled prevalence of stunting among children under the age of five in Pakistan is 39.26%.