Prevalence of Stunting and Associated Factors among public Primary School pupils of Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia: School-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

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.

Nutritional Status and Associated Factors among Primary Schoolchildren from Pastoral Communities, Mieso-Mulu District, Sitti Zone, Somali Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia: Institution-Based Cross-Sectional Study

“…This finding is in agreement with studies reported on the national figures of stunting in Ethiopia (23%) [ 7 ], Dale woreda (25.6%) [ 13 ], Southern Ethiopia (28%) [ 14 ], Uganda's Wakiso District (22.5%) [ 59 ], and Jimma Zone (24.1%) [ 60 ]. Unlike the present study, a lower magnitude of stunting was reported from Ethiopia, such as Southern Ethiopia (28%), Harari (15.8%), Bahir Dar city (15.13%), Babile town (11.2%), Bahir Dar district (18.3%), and Addis Ababa (19.6%) [ 14 , 18 , 55 , 57 , 61 , 62 ], respectively. In contrast, the results are lower than the findings from Gondar town (46.1%) [ 17 ], Arba Minch city (41.9%) [ 24 ], Humbo district (57%) [ 48 ], and Mecha district (37.9%) [ 63 ].…”

“…Accordingly, 14–17-year-old children were 48% less [AOR = 0.52; 95% CI: 0.29, 0.95] likely to be stunted than 6–9-year-old children. Numerous other studies revealed that the likelihood of stunting was higher as the child got older [ 13 , 18 , 20 , 27 , 29 , 31 , 32 , 45 , 53 , 54 , 59 , 61 ]. However, in this study, children aged 14–17 years were less likely to be stunted than children aged 6–9 years.…”

Prevalence and associated factors of stunting and thinness among primary school-aged children in Gudeya Bila district, West Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

“…There is closeness between the sample size in this study and that of study in the Myanmar. However, the study showed that the prevalence of stunting was lower than the study done in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where 17.8% of the school-age children were stunted, 30 Bahir Dar city where 15.13% of the subjects were stunted, 13 Northeast Ethiopia where 14.1% were stunted, 16 North West Ethiopia where 25.5% of school-age children were stunted 25 and urban slums in India where 18.5% of them were stunted. 10 When compared with the study done in Arba Minch where 41.9% of the school-aged children were stunted, 12 and Gondar town where 46.1% were stunted, 6 the prevalence was much lower.…”

“…Its short-term effects include mortality and morbidity, whereas its long-term effects include that children do not reach their full developmental potential and would have poor cognitive performance, which in turn has consequences on the country’s economic productivity. 13 Many studies reported the health and physical consequences of child under-nutrition and these may have intergenerational effects. 9 Chronic under-nutrition in childhood is linked to slower cognitive development and serious health impairments later in life that reduces the quality of life of individuals.…”