Stunting and anemia among children 6–23 months old in Damot Sore district, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Stunting and anemia are long-standing public health challenges which adversely affects the cognitive development and physical wellbeing of children in low income settings. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors of stunting and anemia among 6-23 months old children in Damot Sore District, Southern Ethiopia. Methods: Cross-sectional survey was conducted among 477 children aged 6-23 months, which were living in Damot Sore District, in April 2017. A multistage sampling technique was used. Villages were randomly selected and systematic random sampling method was used to select study participants. Data on socio-demographic, anthropometric, dietary, blood samples for hemoglobin were collected. Data were entered into EPI Data V. 3.1 and exported into SPSS Version 21.0 for analysis. A principal component analysis (PCA) was done to generate wealth score of households. Binary logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with the outcome variables (stunting and anemia) separately, those variables having less than a p-value of 0.25 were chosen as candidate for multivariable analyses and finally multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify independent variables of each outcomes, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05 (95% confidence interval (CI)). Results: Out of 477 children studied, 31.7% were stunted and 52% were anemic. In the multivariable analyses, the number of under five children within a household (AOR = 4.18, 95% CI: 2.65-6.57), drinking water from unsafe source (AOR = 4.08, 95% CI: 1.33-12.54) and anemia (AOR = 3.13, 95% CI 2.00-4.92) were factors significantly associated with stunting. On the other hand, independent variables of anemia were early initiation of complementary feeding (AOR = 2.96, 95% CI: 1.23-4.85), poor dietary diversity (AOR = 2.95, 95% CI: 1.78-4.91), poor breast feeding practice (AOR = 2.94, 95% CI: 1.63-5.32) and stunting (AOR = 3.65, 95% CI: 2.15-6.19). Conclusion: This study revealed higher level of stunting and anemia among children aged 6-23 months than WHO (world health organization) criteria of public health importance. Sustainable promotion of diversified diet, optimal complementary feeding, optimal and complementary breast feeding practices, improving sanitation infrastructure are measures needed to tackle these severe public health challenges.

Determinants of Anemia Among Children Aged 6 to 59 Months in Dilla Town, Southern Ethiopia: A Facility Based Case Control Study

“…This study has shown that more than 1 under 5 years children living in the households were independently associated with anemia among children 6 to 59 months of age. This finding is consistent with study done in Damot Sore district, Southern Ethiopia of which more than 1 under 5 children within a household 4 times more likely to be anemic as compared to household with 1 under 5 years 28 and also the finding consistent with a study done in National level of Ethiopia, 9 Debre Berhan, 32 Namutumba district, Uganda, 33 Kebri Beyah Refugee Camp, Somali Region, Ethiopia 34 and study done using EDHS data in Ethiopia. 35 It is implied that the prevalence of anemia among children aged between 6 and 59 months in Ethiopia was higher in the households with more number of children under 5 relative to households with lower number of children under 5, and under 5 children living in households with many siblings of same age category in a low-income setting were subjected to increased competition for resources which results in major child health constraints such as stunting and nutritional deficiencies.…”

“…• Poor dietary diversity: dietary diversity score of less than 4 food categories. 28 • Good dietary diversity: dietary diversity of more than or equal to 4 food categories. 28 • Insecticide treated bed net (ITN) utilized: A child (index child) who was reported to have slept under ITN during the night prior to the survey.…”

“…28 • Good dietary diversity: dietary diversity of more than or equal to 4 food categories. 28 • Insecticide treated bed net (ITN) utilized: A child (index child) who was reported to have slept under ITN during the night prior to the survey. 29 • Smoker individual in household: a person who smokes any tobacco product, either daily or occasionally (daily: means at least once a day and occasionally: means not every day).…”

Anemia prevalence, severity and associated factors among children aged 6–71 months in rural Hunan Province, China: a community-based cross-sectional study

“…A cross-sectional study carried out in 2012 in northwestern China showed that stunting, underweight, and wasting all were risk factors for suffering from anemia, with AORs of 1.65, 2.42 and 2.89, respectively [7]. Unlike previously published results [7,14,42], our study found no association between malnutrition with childhood anemia. This inconsistency might be due to following explanations.…”

“…Several published studies have confirmed that childhood malnutrition is closely related to anemia [7,14,42]. Malnutrition often coexists with other micronutrient deficiencies (e.g.…”