Factors associated with undernutrition among 20 to 49 year old women in Uganda: a secondary analysis of the Uganda demographic health survey 2016

Abstract

Background: Women are at risk of undernutrition due to biological, socio-economic, and cultural factors. Undernourished women have higher risk of poor obstetric outcomes. We aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with undernutrition among women of reproductive age in Uganda.Methods: We used Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) 2016 data of 4,640 women aged 20 to 49 years excluding pregnant and post-menopausal women. Multistage stratified sampling was used to select study participants and data were collected using validated questionnaires. We used multivariable logistic regression to determine factors associated with underweight and stunting among 20 to 49 year old women in Uganda.Results: The prevalence of underweight and stunting were 6.9% (318/4640) and 1.3% (58/4640) respectively. Women who belonged to the poorest wealth quintile (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 3.60, 95% CI 1.85–7.00) were more likely to be underweight compared to those who belonged to the richest wealth quintile. Women residing in rural areas were less likely to be underweight (AOR 0.63, 95%CI 0.41–0.96) compared to women in urban areas. Women in Western (AOR 0.30, 95% CI 0.20–0.44), Eastern (AOR 0.42, 95% CI 0.28–0.63) and Central regions (AOR 0.42, 95% CI 0.25–0.72) were less likely to be underweight compared to those in the Northern region. Women belonging to Central (AOR 4.37, 95% CI 1.44-13.20) and Western (AOR 4.77, 95% CI 1.28-17.78) regions were more likely to be stunted compared to those in the Northern region.Conclusion: The present study showed wealth index, place of residence and region to be associated with undernutrition among 20 to 49 year old women in Uganda. There is need to address socio-economic determinants of maternal undernutrition mainly poverty and regional inequalities.

Prevalence and factors associated with modern contraceptives utilization among female adolescents in Uganda

“…UDHS was implemented by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) with the technical assistance of Inner City Fund (ICF) International through the USAID-supported MEASURE DHS project [22]. The UDHS inquired about household members' and individuals' socio-demographic and reproductive health information using household, women's, men's and biomarker questionnaires [22,23]. The data used in this study was collected using the women's questionnaire.…”

“…The UDHS used two-stage systematic sampling to select participants from households nested in clusters (enumeration areas) across the all the regions of Uganda [22,23]. The 2014 population and housing census sample frame was used to select the enumeration areas [22].…”

Childhood Obesity and Overweight in Uganda: Evidence From the Uganda Demographic Health Survey 2016

“…Northern Uganda has some of the poorest and most food insecure sub-regions which could partly be attributed to the fact that the region experienced a long civil war which greatly affected the economy and agricultural production [19]. Furthermore, most people in the Northern part of Uganda are pastoral communities with some being nomadic which may negatively affect the production and consumption of the foods from agricultural origin (crops) as they mostly focus on mainly pastoral activities [19]. The increased poverty and decreased agricultural production led to decreased food availability and access to food in Northern Uganda.…”

“…UDHS is a periodical survey that is carried out every ve years as part of the MEASURE DHS global survey and collects Information on demographic, health and nutrition indicators. The survey was conducted between June and December 2016 using strati ed two-stage cluster sampling design that resulted in the random selection of a representative sample of 20,880 households [18,19]. The households were randomly selected in two stages: clusters (or enumeration areas) were drawn in the rst stage and then a count within each cluster led to a list of households from which was conducted a systematic sampling with equal probability [18].…”

Rural-urban Correlates of Modern Contraceptives Utilization Among Adolescents in Zambia: a National Cross-sectional Survey

“…We conducted a secondary data analysis using the 2018 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) dataset after obtaining permission from the MEASURE DHS project. Demographic health surveys (DHS) are national surveys that are conducted periodically in low and middle income countries (LMICs) standardized to enable comparisons among the different countries [13,14]. The 2018 ZDHS is the sixth in a series of demographic and health Surveys with the previous surveys conducted in 1992, 1996, 2001-02, 2007, and 2013-14 [13].The 2018 ZDHS data were collected between 18 th July 2018 and 24 th January 2019 [13].…”