Background Stunting is a well-established child-health indicator of chronic malnutrition, which reliably gives a picture of the past nutritional history and the prevailing environmental and socioeconomic circumstances. Objective To investigate the prevalence of stunting and associated factors among public primary school children of the Bahir Dar city. Method A cross-sectional study was carried out from March to June 2019. Data were coded and entered into the Epi-Data and exported to SPSS version 23 software. The pupil was stunted if the height- for-age was ≤ -2 SDs from the median growth standards according to the WHO. A descriptive summary was computed using frequency, percent, mean, median and standard deviation. A simple logistic regression model was fitted to identify associated factors between the independent variables and the dependent variable at a 95% confidence interval (CI) and p-value <0.05. Results 370 primary school pupils were included in the study with the mean age of 10.15 (± 2.23 SD) years. 51.6% of the pupils were females. The total prevalence of stunting was 15.13% (95%CI; 11%, 19%). The burden of stunting was higher in the age group of 11 years and older. Pupil’s age older than 11 years (AOR = 15. 6; 95%CI; 3.31, 73.45; p-value < 0. 001) and male sex (AOR = 7. 07; 95%CI: 2.51, 19.89; p-value < 0. 0002) were significantly associated with stunting. Conclusion The prevalence of stunting was relatively lower than the regional estimated stunting level. Older age and male sex were significantly associated with stunting.

Background:Stunting is a well-established pupils-health indicator of chronic malnutrition which reliably gives a picture of the past nutritional history and the prevailing environmental and socioeconomic circumstances.Objective: The prevalence of stunting and associated factors among public primary school pupils of Bahir Dar city. Method:A cross-sectional study was carried out from March to June 2019. Data were coded and entered into Epi-Data and exported to SPSS. Then, Anthropometric data were converted into height for age Z-scores to determine the pupils stunting outcomes using WHO Anthro-Plus software. Then, the final analysis was done by SPSS version 20 software. Anthropometric measurements determined the proportion of stunting (z-score of height for age less than minus two standard deviations from WHO Anthro-plus software output). A simple logistic regression model was fitted to identify factors associated between the independent variables and the dependent variable at a 95% confidence level and p-value <0.05.Results: 370 primary school pupils were included in the study with the mean age of 121.84(+ 26.67) months. About 51.6% of the pupils were females. The total prevalence of stunting was 15.13% (95%CI; 11%, 19%). The burden of stunting was higher in the age group of greater than 132 months. Pupil's age ≥132 months (AOR꞊15.6; 95%CI; 3.31, 73.45; p-value<0.001) and male pupils (AOR꞊7.07; 95%CI: 2.51, 19.89; p-value<0.0002) were significantly associated with stunting. Conclusion:The prevalence of stunting was relatively lower than the regional estimated stunting level. However, this result is also very significant figure to get critical attention. Pupil's age ≥ 132 months and male sex were significantly associated with stunting.