Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 May 3:14:1683-1697.
doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S307026. eCollection 2021.

Assessment of Prevalence and Factors Associated with Malnutrition Among Under-Five Children in Debre Berhan Town, Ethiopia

Mulat Mossie Menalu  1 , Alebachew Demelash Bayleyegn  1 , Michael Amera Tizazu  2 , Nakachew Sewnet Amare  2
Affiliations

Assessment of Prevalence and Factors Associated with Malnutrition Among Under-Five Children in Debre Berhan Town, Ethiopia

Mulat Mossie Menalu et al. Int J Gen Med. .

Abstract

Background: Malnutrition is a deficiency or improper intake of energy and nutrients. It includes undernutrition (wasting, stunting, underweight, and mineral and vitamin-related malnutrition) and overnutrition.

Purpose: To estimate the prevalence and identify the risk factors for undernutrition among under-five children in Debre Berhan Town, North Shewa, Ethiopia.

Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Debre Berhan Town, from October 07, 2019 to January 24, 2020. Three hundred and eighty-five under-five children who were selected using systematic random sampling technique were included in this study. To collect data, a structured questionnaire and anthropometrical measurements were used. Data entry was done through Epi data 4.21, and for data analysis statistical package for social sciences version 20.0 was employed. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with malnutrition. The statistical significance was stated at p value <0.05 with 95% confidence intervals.

Results: In the overall sample the total prevalence of undernutrition in below age-5 children was 61 (15.8%), the corresponding figures for underweight, stunted, and wasting were 26%, 41%, and 33%, respectively. Factors that contributed to under-five undernutrition were maternal illiteracy, not breastfeeding exclusively, preterm birth, absence of antenatal care, exposure to infectious diseases and diarrhea.

Conclusion: There was a higher prevalence of stunting (41%), wasting (33%), and being underweight (26%) in Debre Berhan town than the national (Ethiopia) or regional (Amhara) malnutrition prevalence. Mothers' educational status should be improved by teaching them that proper nutrition is important for their child's growth and development. Antenatal care for all pregnant women, education on child care, infection prevention, and child feeding should be provided and further strengthened.

Keywords: Debre Berhan; malnutrition; stunting; under nutrition; underweight; wasting.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors reported no conflicts of interest for this work and declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Children’s complementary feeding starting time in Debre Berhan Town, North Shewa zone, Ethiopia, 2019.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence of wasting, stunting, and underweight by sex in Debre Berhan Town, North Shewa, Ethiopia, 2019.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. World Health Organization. The double burden of malnutrition policy brief. World Health Organization; 2017.
    1. UNICEF.Child survival and the SDGs; 2020.Available from: https://.data.unicef.org/child/survival. Accessed October 3, 2020.
    1. World Health Organization. UNICEF/WHO/The World Bank Group joint child malnutrition estimates: levels and trends in child malnutrition: key findings of the 2020 edition; 2020.
    1. Asfaw M, Wondaferash M, Taha M, et al. Prevalence of undernutrition and associated factors among children aged between six to fifty nine months in Bule Hora district, South Ethiopia. BMC Public Health. 2015;15(1):41. doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1370-9 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pravana NK, Piryani S, Chaurasiya SP, et al. Determinants of severe acute malnutrition among children under 5 years of age in Nepal: a community-based case–control study. BMJ Open. 2017;7(8):e017084. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017084 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources