Abstract
A poor understanding of malnutrition burden is a common reason for not prioritizing the care of small and nutritionally at-risk infants aged under-six months (infants u6m). We aimed to estimate the anthropometric deficit prevalence in infants u6m attending health centres, using the Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF), and to assess the overlap of different individual indicators. We undertook a two-week survey of all infants u6m visiting 18 health centres in two zones of the Oromia region, Ethiopia. We measured weight, length, and MUAC (mid-upper arm circumference) and calculated weight-for-length (WLZ), length-for-age (LAZ), and weight-for-age z-scores (WAZ). Overall, 21.7% (95% CI: 19.2; 24.3) of infants u6m presented CIAF, and of these, 10.7% (95% CI: 8.93; 12.7) had multiple anthropometric deficits. Low MUAC overlapped with 47.5% (95% CI: 38.0; 57.3), 43.8% (95% CI: 34.9; 53.1), and 42.6% (95% CI: 36.3; 49.2) of the stunted, wasted, and CIAF prevalence, respectively. Underweight overlapped with 63.4% (95% CI: 53.6; 72.2), 52.7% (95% CI: 43.4; 61.7), and 59.6% (95% CI: 53.1; 65.9) of the stunted, wasted, and CIAF prevalence, respectively. Anthropometric deficits, single and multiple, are prevalent in infants attending health centres. WAZ overlaps more with other forms of anthropometric deficits than MUAC.
Highlights
Of the infants u6m whose mothers or primary caregivers agreed to participate, a total of 2.17% had either primary caregivers agreed to participate, a total of 2.17% had either missing weight or length data, their weight-for-length z-scores (WLZ) could not be estimated because their lengths missing weight or length data, their WLZ could not be estimated because their lengths were
The major finding was of a common problem: over 20% of infants u6m attending clinics had some form of anthropometric deficit (CIAF), of which a fifth (4%) were severe (CISAF)
Our results showed that the number of admissions would almost double if Composite Index of Severe Anthropometric Failure (CISAF) was to become the criterion for admission, or it would increase by ten-fold if the criteria was any form of anthropometric deficit as denoted by Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF)
Summary
Millions of infants aged under six months of age ( infants u6m) are small and nutritionally at-risk, with different forms of anthropometric deficits (e.g., wasted, underweight, or stunted) or low birthweight (LBW) [1]. These deficits are associated with an increased risk of mortality, morbidity, subsequent malnutrition, and impaired development [2]. An estimated 8.5 million infants u6m are wasted, of whom 3.8 million are severely wasted [3]. An estimated 20.5 million livebirths have a LBW [4]
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