Pediatria Clínica: Acesso Aberto
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Stunting and its Associated Factors among Children Age 6-59 Months at Debre Tabor Town, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019: A Community Based Cross- Sectional Study

Bisrat Dessie Getu, Kendalem Asmare Atalell, Destaye Guadie Kassie, Kefyalew Amogne Azanaw, Nigusie Selomon Tibebu

Background: Globally in U5 year children, greater than half of all deaths are attributable to under-nutrition. Stunting is one of the major under-nutrition problems in children, especially in developing countries like Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the prevalence of stunting and its associated factors among children age 6-59 months at Debre Tabor town, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019.

Materials and methods: Community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among children age 6-59 months at Debre Tabor town, from February to March 2019. Data were collected using a pretested, semi-structured an interviewer-administered questionnaire adapted from World Health Organization Stepwise Surveillance (WHO STEPS). A systematic random sampling technique was used to engage 620 parent-child pairs. Data was entered into Epi-info version 7 and exported to SPSS version 22 for analysis. Height for age Z score was computed using WHO Anthro plus software. Both the bi-variable and a multivariable logistic regression analyses were computed and Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) at p-value <0.05 was used to determine the statistically significant association between factors and the outcome variable.

Results: The prevalence of stunting in this study was 46% (95% CI: 41.9%-50.3%). Age of the child (AOR=1.98, 95%CI: (1.08, 3.67)), occupation of the mother (AOR=2.13, 95% CI: (1.16, 3.92)), educational status of the father (AOR=2.88, 95% CI: (1.45, 5.70)) and occupation of the father (AOR=5.05, 95% CI: (2.46, 10.36)) were variables significantly associated with stunting.

Conclusion: The prevalence of stunting was found to be high among children age 6-59 months in the study area as compared to the national average. The age of the child, occupation of the mother, the educational status of the father, and occupation of the father were factors associated with stunting? Therefore, attention should be targeted to improve the occupational and educational status of the parents.