Abstract
BackgroundWomen are at risk of undernutrition due to biological, socio-economic, and cultural factors. Undernourished women have higher risk of poor obstetric outcomes. We aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with undernutrition among women of reproductive age in Uganda.MethodsWe used Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) 2016 data of 4640 women aged 20 to 49 years excluding pregnant and post-menopausal women. Multistage stratified sampling was used to select study participants and data were collected using validated questionnaires. We used multivariable logistic regression to determine factors associated with underweight and stunting among 20 to 49 year old women in Uganda.ResultsThe prevalence of underweight and stunting were 6.9% (318/4640) and 1.3% (58/4640) respectively. Women who belonged to the poorest wealth quintile (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 3.60, 95% CI 1.85–7.00) were more likely to be underweight compared to those who belonged to the richest wealth quintile. Women residing in rural areas were less likely to be underweight (AOR 0.63, 95%CI 0.41–0.96) compared to women in urban areas. Women in Western (AOR 0.30, 95% CI 0.20–0.44), Eastern (AOR 0.42, 95% CI 0.28–0.63) and Central regions (AOR 0.42, 95% CI 0.25–0.72) were less likely to be underweight compared to those in the Northern region. Women belonging to Central (AOR 4.37, 95% CI 1.44–13.20) and Western (AOR 4.77, 95% CI 1.28–17.78) regions were more likely to be stunted compared to those in the Northern region.ConclusionThe present study showed wealth index, place of residence and region to be associated with undernutrition among 20 to 49 year old women in Uganda. There is need to address socio-economic determinants of maternal undernutrition mainly poverty and regional inequalities.
Highlights
Women are at risk of undernutrition due to biological, socio-economic, and cultural factors
More women lived in households with less than six members (53.9%), had primary education as the highest level (55.9%) and resided in male headed households (64.5%)
This study investigated the prevalence and factors associated with both underweight and stunting among Ugandan women aged 20 to 49 years
Summary
Women are at risk of undernutrition due to biological, socio-economic, and cultural factors. Negative gender norms that favor men over women such as men being served food first and women eating leftovers [6], and women not inheriting property are common in developing countries like Uganda [7, 8]. These norms lead to women having a lower socio-economic status compared to men [9] and disproportionately affected by under nutrition [10,11,12]
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