Prevalence of Stunting and its Associated Factors among UnderFive Children from Rural Communities with Productive Safetynet Program in South Gondar Zone, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: undernutrition is a major public health problem worldwide and can impair the intellectual development of a child. Stunting is the commonest nutritional public heath significant disorder among children, especially in developing countries including Ethiopia. Even if the cause is multifactorial, inadequate intake of nutrients and infection is the immediate causes of under nutrition. All these problems were more severe among children’s in the productive safety net program beneficiaries of the rural community due to low agricultural productivity and/or low socioeconomic status. So, this study aims to determine the level of stunting and its associated factors among under-five children from rural communities with productive SafetyNet program in South Gondar Zone, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was employed. By using simple random sampling, 769 children paired with their mother or caregivers were included into this study. The data were collected using a structured and pre-tested questionnaire. Anthropometric indices were built to determine height for age Z score. AnthroPlus and Epi info version 7.0 software’s were used for data entry and finally, the entered data were exported to SPPS version 20.0 software to carry out the further statistical analysis. Both bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models were used to explore significant variables. Finally, a P-Value ≤ 0.05 was used to declare the statistical significance of the variables. Results: In this study, the magnitude stunting was 44.2% (95% CI (40.9%, 47.7%)). Stunted children from productive Safety Net households were 50.3%. Factors associated with the development of stunting were a birth interval (AOR: 1.61, 95% CI (1.15, 2.26)), ANC follow-up (AOR: 0.47, 95% CI (0.26, 0.87)), hand washing practice (AOR: 1.96, 95% CI (1.16, 3.31)), and family size (AOR: 4.40, 95% CI (3.20, 6.07)). Conclusion: Stunting is a severe public health problem. And, appropriate counselling regarding birth spacing, to have antenatal care follow up, and limiting the number of children is very important for women in the reproductive age group by integrating with all other services to reduce the magnitude and burden of stunting.