Undernutrition and its association with socio-demographic, anemia and intestinal parasitic infection among pregnant women attending antenatal care at the University of Gondar Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

BackgroundUnder nutrition is a worldwide public health problem affecting the well-being of millions of pregnant women in the developing world. Only limited research has been conducted on the prevalence and determinants of maternal nutritional status in Ethiopia. Particularly, data on the nutritional status of pregnant women are lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and determinants of undernutrition among pregnant women attending antenatal care at the University of Gondar Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia.MethodsAn institution based cross-sectional study was conducted in January and February 2016. Randomly selected 409 pregnant women were included in the study. Nutritional status was estimated using mid-upper-arm circumference. Data on potential determinants of undernutrition were gathered using a structured questionnaire. The blood sample was collected to analyze hemoglobin. The stool sample was collected to identify intestinal parasitic infections. Statistical analysis was done using logistic regression. P-value < 0.05 at 95% confidence interval was considered as statistically significant.ResultsThe prevalence of undernutrition among pregnant women was 16.2% (95% CI: 12.4–20.1%). Using a logistic regression model, factors significantly associated with the undernutrition were living in rural areas (AOR = 2.26), low educational status [no formal education (AOR = 2.91), primary education (AOR = 2.69)], history of too many births (AOR = 2.55), anemia (AOR = 2.01), and intestinal parasitic infection (AOR = 2.73).ConclusionThe study findings provide evidence for the public health significance of under nutrition among pregnant women in the study area. The problem must be combated through rural livelihood promotion, socioeconomic empowerment of women, sustained nutrition education and expansion of family-planning services in the area.

Prevalence and associated factors of undernutrition among pregnant women vising ANC clinic in Silte zone, southern Ethiopia

“…Pregnant women who are at age of between 31-35 years have decreased risk of undernutrition by 15% when compared to pregnant women of age less than 31 years. Consistent nding is reported in other studies (21,22,34,41). This could be possibly due to early age women often have lack of awareness about their own health and nutritional status that leads to poor nutritional status.…”

“…It is also consistent with ndings of a study done in south Sudan and a systemic review in Africa reported 18.9% and 23.5% respectively (20,33) . On the other hand, our nding is higher than those of studies did in three areas of Ethiopia and Madagascar reported 16.2%, 14.4%, 9.2% and 9% respectively (22,(34)(35)(36). The variation might be due to distinctions in MUAC cut of value, and the socio-culture distinctions between Ethiopia and the other counties.…”

“…In developing nations including Ethiopia, burden of maternal and child undernutrition is very high. The prevalence of maternal undernutrition in Africa including Ethiopia found between 11%-36% (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). The most acceptable explanation for this wide variation is likely to be the fact that contextual factors are major determinants of maternal undernutrition.…”

Predictors of Malnutrition among Pregnant Women in Ethiopia: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…These articles were from six regional state and two cities of Ethiopia. Eight studies were done in Oromo regional state [25,26,28,30,31,33,46,47], six articles in Amhara region [32,[48][49][50][51][52], four articles from South Nation and Nationality of People (SNNP) [27,34,53,54], two articles in Tigray [29,55] and in Addis Ababa (AA) [56], Dire Dawa [57], Gambella [58] and Ethiopian Somalia [59] shared single articles for each.…”

“…In addition, these individual studies also stated factors like maternal age, income, residence, marital status, educational status, women decision, substance abuse, water source, toilet possession, family size, dietary diversity, number of meal, dietary advice, family planning, pregnancy intention, antenatal care follow up, parity, gestational age, any illness and iron supplementation as a potential associated factors with malnutrition during pregnancy even though inconsistent ndings were recorded [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. Therefore this systematic review and meta-analysis was done to estimate the pooled burden of malnutrition and its predictors among pregnant women in Ethiopia.…”