Undernutrition and Associated Factors among Adolescent Girls in Damot Sore District, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

<jats:p><jats:italic>Background</jats:italic>. Adolescent girls were given little health and nutrition attention. Focusing on adolescent girls’ nutrition prior to conception is one way to break the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of undernutrition and associated factors among adolescent girls in rural Damot Sore District, Southern Ethiopia. <jats:italic>Methods</jats:italic>. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from February to March 2017. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 729 adolescent girls. Structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on different variables. Weight and height were measured by using a well-calibrated digital Seca scale and portable stadiometer by trained data collectors. Height-for-age (HFA) and body mass index-for-age (BMIFA) <jats:italic>z</jats:italic>-scores were calculated using WHO AnthroPlus software as indicators of stunting and thinness, respectively. Wealth index was generated by using principal component analysis (PCA), and based on the results, household wealth index/status was converted into tertiles and categorized as higher/rich, medium, and lower/poor. Descriptive statistics, bivariable, and multivariable logistic regression analysis were done. Strength of association of variables was presented by odds ratio along with its 95% CI. <jats:italic>Results</jats:italic>. The prevalence of stunting and thinness among adolescent girls was 29.6% (95% CI = 26.6%, 32.8%) and 19.5% (95% CI = 16.7%, 22.3%), respectively. Being in older adolescence (AOR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.08, 3.92), mother occupation (farmer and government employee) ((AOR = 2.38, 95% CI = 1.31, 4.33) and (AOR = 3.05, 95% CI = 1.35, 6.92)), mother education (secondary and above) ((AOR = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.28, 0.98) and (AOR = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.09, 0.69)), and household wealth index (poor) (AOR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.29, 2.92) were significantly associated with stunting. Father education (primary and secondary) ((AOR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.31, 0.77) and (AOR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.26, 0.78)), mother education (primary) (AOR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.37, 0.87), and meal frequency (&lt;2/day) (AOR = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.12, 3.13) were significantly associated with thinness. <jats:italic>Conclusion</jats:italic>. The prevalence of stunting and thinness among adolescent girls was moderate, when compared to the prevalence reported in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, it was a major public health problem, when compared to the national nutrition baseline survey reports in Ethiopia. Parental education was a significant predictor of both stunting and thinness among adolescent girls. Thus, initiation of routine screening, promotion of education, and implementation of evidence based community nutrition programmes required to be improved.</jats:p>

Associated factors and socio-economic inequality in the prevalence of thinness and stunting among adolescent boys and girls in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India

“…Stunting was higher among late adolescents (15–19 years) than early adolescents (10–14 years) and was more severe among late adolescent girls than their counterparts. The above finding is concordant with the previously available literature [ 18 , 31 ]. However, studies in other settings found different results [ 12 ].…”

Underweight and Associated Factors Among Teenage Adolescent Girls in Resource-poor Settings: A Cross-sectional Study

“…A lower level of parenteral education positively influenced the occurrence of being underweight among adolescent girls in other studies. 18,20 In line with these previous findings, we also found the paternal education primary or lower level increased the risk of thinness, possibly because parenteral education appears to play a crucial role in providing adequate quantities and qualities of food to children. 50,51 Family size has been shown to have both a positive and negative impact on children and adolescence nutritional status in some previous studies.- 52,53 We identified an increasing family size (>4) had higher odds of being underweight in our study subjects.…”

“…Adolescents (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19) years old) comprise one quarter of the world's population. 8,9 This time of life is critically important because it is during this period that rapid growth and development occurs, and thus, adolescents require higher nutrient intakes.…”

“…More importantly, adolescent girls need good quality nutritive foods in sufficient quantity to cope with the added nutritional requirements associated with onset of maturity, menstruation, participation in various physical activities, 14,15 and to reduce health risks and break the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition. 16,17 Researchers in recent studies overlooked several important predictors of underweight adolescent girls such as sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors, 18,19 parental education,- 18,20 occupation, 20 dietary habits 5,18 and food insecurity. 21,22 It is well known that being underweight is one of the major public health concerns in teenage adolescent, especially school-aged children in South East Asian countries as it impacts health, cognition, and educational achievements.…”

“…A previous study reported vegetarian adolescent girls were less likely to consume recommended levels of fat, cholesterol, and micronutrients than those with an omnivorous diet, which supports the notion that vegetarian adolescent girls are more at risk of undernutrition. 35 Other studies have also consistently demonstrated a low meal frequency (fewer than two meals/day) 18 and irregular meal times 54 are risk factors of being underweight among adolescent girls. Moreover, household food insecurity has been demonstrated to be a major risk factor, especially during the adolescent period.…”