Abstract
Socio-economic status is an important predictor of stunting, however published population based studies on socio-economic inequalities in stunting among children under-five years of age is scarce in Uganda. Data from the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey was used to identify possible socio-economic inequalities in stunting among 3941 children aged 6-59 months. Multivariate binary logistic regression models were fitted to calculate the odds ratios and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals for stunting by maternal formal education and household wealth index. The overall prevalence of stunting among children was 30.1%. The risk of stunting was higher among children whose mothers had no formal education (OR: 4.35; 95% CI, 2.45-7.71), attained primary (OR: 2.74 95% CI, 1.62-4.63) and secondary level education (OR: 2.30 95% CI, 1.34-3.96) compared to those whose mothers attained tertiary level education. Similarly higher risk of stunting was found among children that lived in the poorest (OR: 1.78 95% CI, 1.23-2.59), poorer (OR: 1.88; 95% CI, (1.28-2.74), middle (OR: 1.91, 95% CI, 1.31-2.77) and richer households (OR: 1.60; 95% CI, 1.10-2.32) compared to those in the richest households. Socio-economic differences in stunting among children under-five years of age were found. Targeting stunting prevention interventions to less affluent mother-child dyads and households might be important in reducing social inequalities in stunting among children under-five years of age in Uganda.
Highlights
The deleterious effect of stunting on children’s physical and cognitive development and later life risk of chronic diseases is well established [1,2,3,4]
The highest prevalence of stunting was among children whose mothers had no formal education and lowest was in children whose mothers had tertiary level education
These results are in agreement with those of a Ugandan cross-sectional study based on 2011 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey data which found an association between maternal formal education level and stunting among children under-five years of age [16] and similar to the findings of another Ugandan study that used data from four Uganda Demographic and health surveys preceding the 2016 UDHS [8]
Summary
The deleterious effect of stunting on children’s physical and cognitive development and later life risk of chronic diseases is well established [1,2,3,4] This explains the concerted global efforts to reduce the burden of stunting among children under-five years of age. Uganda recorded a steady decline in the prevalence of stunting among children under-five years of age in the last three decades [8], the number of affected children remained high (2.2 million children) approximately 29% [9] This prevalence of stunting among Ugandan children aged 6-59 months remains unacceptably high when compared to global standards. The reversal of this declining trend in the prevalence of stunting is probable, given the recent increase in level of poverty in the country [10], poor
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