Predictors of Stunting Among Children Ages 0 to 59 Months in a Rural Region of Armenia

Abstract

The prevalence of stunting in Armenia more than doubled since the 1990 s. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and the predictors of stunting among children younger than 5 years in a rural region of Armenia, Talin, targeted by the World Vision (WV) nutrition interventions. Anthropometric measurements were conducted among a large representative sample of children 0 to 59 months old to identify the prevalence of stunting. Children identified as stunted were included in a case-control study as cases and compared with normally growing controls randomly selected from the same pool of children. The mothers of cases and controls were interviewed. Logistic regression analysis was applied to identify the predictors of stunting. Of 739 measured children, 101 (13.7%) were undernourished, including 94 (12.7%) who were stunted. The fitted logistic regression model identified 7 independent predictors of stunting, of which 4 were protective: mother's height, child's birth length, number of child's hand washings per day, and the full set of WV interventions carried out in the community; whereas 3 were risk factors, that is, never/rarely using soap during hand washing, being the fourth or later child in the family, and family size. The study findings suggest that although WV nutrition interventions have shown impact, there is also a nonnutritional pathway of child stunting in rural Armenia. Thus, antistunting interventions should include sanitation and hygienic measures along with adequate perinatal care and maternal and child nutrition to further reduce childhood stunting, ensuring long-term health benefits for children not only in rural Armenia but also in rural communities in other low/middle-income countries.