Abstract
Introduction. Nutritional status of lactating women is highly linked with the overall nutritional status of population. Undernutrition during lactation results in increased morbidity and mortality to the mother and her child. The literature is dearth regarding to nutrition status of lactating mothers in developing countries such as Ethiopia. Objective. The aim of this study was to assess undernutrition and associated factors among lactating mothers having child 6–23 months in Dega Damot Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 21 to April 19, 2018. Simple random sampling technique was employed to recruit a total of 733 participants. Data were collected by using an interview-administered questionnaire and entered into EpiData version 4.2 and transferred to SPSS version 20 for further analysis. Factors associated with undernutrition were identified using multivariable logistic regression at a p value of less than 0.05 at 95% confidence interval. The direction and strength of association was interpreted using adjusted odds ratio. Results. In this study, the magnitude of undernutrition among lactating women was 21.8%. Being unmarried (AOR: 2.65, 95% CI: 1.54, 4.53), their first pregnancy <18 years (AOR: 2.34, 95% CI: 1.42, 3.87), having more than 5 number of pregnancies (AOR: 2.79, 95% CI: 1.55, 5.03), inadequate dietary diversity score (AOR: 2.1, 95% CI: 1.16, 3.83), and household food insecurity (AOR: 3.68, 95% CI: 2.35, 5.77) were significantly associated factors with undernutrition. Conclusions. The prevalence of undernutrition among lactating women was found to be high. Programs should do better in enhancing activities of agricultural production to reduce household food insecure and to increase accessibility of diversified diet. Other researchers better to do other studies to identify main factors of undernutrition using a qualitative study.
Highlights
Nutritional status of lactating women is highly linked with the overall nutritional status of population
Malnutrition among women is likely to have a major impact on their own health as well as their children’s health
E literature is dearth regarding to nutrition status of lactating mothers in developing countries such as Ethiopia; as a result, this study was conducted to investigate the magnitude of undernutrition and its associated factors among lactating mothers in Dega Damot Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia, which might provide some information regarding to this issue
Summary
Undernutrition is a clinical syndrome characterized by weight loss associated with significant depletion of fat stores and muscle mass [1]. More than 3.5 million women and children under age five in developing countries die each year due to the underlying cause of undernutrition [4]. Women in developing countries with underweight have a high risk of mortality and morbidity, and it affects the quality and volume of breast milk produced; undernourished woman produce less amount of breast milk. Women of reproductive age are especially vulnerable to chronic energy deficiency and malnutrition that leads to low productivity among adults, and it is a major risk factor for adverse birth outcomes [10]. According to WHO cutoff values (20–39%) for public-health significance of women underweight, Ethiopia has high prevalence or serious situation of women undernourishment and the country has the second highest rate of malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa [3, 6, 11]. E literature is dearth regarding to nutrition status of lactating mothers in developing countries such as Ethiopia; as a result, this study was conducted to investigate the magnitude of undernutrition and its associated factors among lactating mothers in Dega Damot Woreda, Northwest Ethiopia, which might provide some information regarding to this issue
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