Abstract
BackgroundMost of the nearly 104 million underweight children in the world lived in South East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa in 2010. According to the 2014 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) report, 24 and 7% of children aged 6–59 months were underweight and severely underweight, respectively. Although appropriate child feeding and nutritional interventions reduce child illness and death, malnutrition remains a leading public health problem in Ethiopia. As literature on the issue is scarce in northwest Ethiopia, this study aimed at determining the prevalence of under-weight and associated factors in children 6–59 months of age in Takusa district, northwest Ethiopia.MethodsA community based cross-sectional study was conducted from January to February, 2017, at Takusa district, northwest Ethiopia. A total of 645 subjects were selected using the multi-stage sampling technique. Anthro software version 2.02 was used to determine the nutritional status of the children. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to investigate factors associated with underweight. Adjusted Odds Ratios (AOR) with the corresponding 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were used to show the strength of associations, and variables with P-values of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.ResultsIn this study, the overall prevalence of underweight was 19.5% (95% CI: 16.4–22.8). According to the multivariate analysis, urban residence (AOR = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.38–0.95), no antenatal care (ANC) follow up (AOR = 1.59; 95% CI 1.01–2.52), and mothers age (over 35 years) (AOR = 0.62; 95% CI: 0.38–0.99) were significantly associated with lower odds of underweight.ConclusionIn the study community, the prevalence of underweight was lower than the findings of different studies in Ethiopia. Advanced maternal age (> 35 years), no antenatal follow up during pregnancy, and rural residence were significantly associated with underweight. Therefore, interventions targeting community management of acute malnutrition might be appropriate to manage the problem of underweight; efforts should also be intensified to reduce under-weight by focusing on identified determinants.
Highlights
Most of the nearly 104 million underweight children in the world lived in South East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa in 2010
Study design and setting A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January to February 2017 in Takusa district, northwest Ethiopia
The finding was lower than those of Mecha district (34%) [28], Medebay Zana district (Tigray) (45.3%) [29], Haramaya (36.6, 28.2%) [30], in Ethiopia. This might be due to the fact that mothers in food insecure areas were at a high risk of getting underweight babies [7], while participants in this study lived in a food secure area that maximized the frequency of feeding, and making it possible for providing diversified food provision
Summary
Most of the nearly 104 million underweight children in the world lived in South East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa in 2010. Under-five children are the most susceptible age group for malnutrition, and nutritional status during childhood is a sensitive indicator of community health. Under-nutrition which can make children underweight, stunted, and wasted does increase the risk of infections, morbidity, and mortality but can decrease mental and cognitive development. Underweight, defined based on weight for-age, is a composite measure of stunting and wasting and is recognized as the indicator for assessing changes in the magnitude of malnutrition over time. Wasting is the result of a recent failure to receive adequate nutrition and may be affected by recent episodes of infections, like diarrhea and other acute illnesses. Wasting indicates current or acute malnutrition, resulting from failure to gain weight or weight loss [2]
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