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
. 2022 Sep 9:10:881296.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.881296. eCollection 2022.

Prevalence of overweight/obesity and associated factors among under-five children in Ethiopia: A multilevel analysis of nationally representative sample

Mathewos Alemu Gebremichael  1 , Melkamu Merid Mengesha  2 , Samuel Hailegebreal  2 , Hanan Abdulkadir  2 , Asrat Arja  3 , Biruk Bogale Wolde  4
Affiliations

Prevalence of overweight/obesity and associated factors among under-five children in Ethiopia: A multilevel analysis of nationally representative sample

Mathewos Alemu Gebremichael et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Childhood overweight and obesity are emerging public health challenges of the twety-first century. There was a 24% increase in the number of overweight children under the age of 5 years in low-income countries. Despite the significant risk of childhood overweight/obesity for non-communicable diseases, premature death, disability, and reproductive disorders in their adult life, little attention has been given. Therefore, we aimed to assess the prevalence of overweight/obesity and associated factors among under-five children.

Methods: This study was conducted using data from a nationally representative sample of the 2019 Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey (EMDHS). The Mini EDHS was a community-based cross-sectional study that covered all the administrative regions of Ethiopia. The data collection was conducted between March 21, 2019 and June 28, 2019. Both descriptive and analytic findings were produced. The overweight/obesity was measured by the weight-for-height (WFH) index, more than two standard deviations (+2 SD) above the median of the reference population based on the BMI Z-score. To identify significantly asso.

Results: A total of 5,164 under-five children were included in this study cited factors of overweight/obesity, a multilevel binary logistic regression model was fitted to account for the hierarchical nature of the data. Adjusted odds ratio (aOR) with a corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) was reported to show the strength of association and statistical significance. The overall prevalence of overweight/obesity was 2.14% (95% CI: 1.74-2.53). The odds of overweight/obesity was higher among children aged <6 months (aOR = 5.19; 95% CI: 2.98-9.04), 6-24 months (aOR = 1.97; 95% CI: 1.18-3.29), delivered by cesarean section (aOR = 1.75; 95% CI: 1.84-3.65), living in Addis Ababa city (aOR = 2.16; 95% CI: 1.59-7.81), Oromia region (aOR = 1.93; 95% CI: 1.71-5.24), having mothers with the age 40-49 years (aOR = 3.91; 95% CI: 1.90-16.92), uses traditional contraceptive methods (aOR = 2.63; 95% CI: 1.66-10.47) and households headed by male (aOR = 1.71; 95% CI: 1.84-3.48).

Conclusion: This study showed that the prevalence of overweight/obesity among under-five was low in Ethiopia. There were several factors that affect childhood overweight/obesity including child age, maternal age, mode of delivery, sex of head of household, contraception use, and geography of residence. Therefore, strategies to reduce childhood overweight and obesity should consider an identified multitude of contributing factors.

Keywords: Ethiopia; factors; overweight/obesity; prevalence; under-five children.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Nutritional status in under-five aged children in Ethiopia: Data from Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey (EMDHS 2019).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. WHO . Key facts about obesity and overweight. (2021). Available online at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight (cited June 17, 2021).
    1. UNICEF W, World Bank . Levels and Trends in Child Malnutrition: UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates. New York, Geneva, Washington DC: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank; (2015). Available online at: https://www.who.int/nutgrowthdb/jme_brochure2016.pdf (cited June 22, 2021).
    1. WHO . Commission presents its final report, calling for high-level action to address major health challenge 25 January 2016. (2021). Available online at: https://www.who.int/end-childhood-obesity/news/launch-fnal-report/en/ (accessed June 22, 2021).
    1. Gebremedhin S. Prevalence and differentials of overweight and obesity in preschool children in Sub-Saharan Africa. BMJ Open. (2015) 5:e009005. 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009005 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Onywera VO. Childhood obesity and physical inactivity threat in Africa: strategies for a healthy future. Glob Health Promot. (2010) 17:45–6. 10.1177/1757975910363937 - DOI - PubMed