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Households Hunger: The Key Attribute to Anthropometric Failures of Children in West Oromia (Ethiopia)

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Summary

Poor nutrition is the underlying cause of child death. However, comprehensive data showing the relationships between dietary-practices, food security, and nutritional status are scant. The present study aimed to examine the association of inappropriate feeding practices and household-hunger with anthropometric measures in children aged 6–23 months. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on randomly selected 525-households. Semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to gather data on socio-demographic, child health, dietary-practices and household-hunger. Weight and height/length of the children were measured and analyzed using the new World Health Organization (WHO) Growth Standards. The prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight as well as composite index of anthropometric failure (CIFA) were used to indicate under-nutrition. The overall prevalence of inappropriate feeding practices was 22.9%, rate of moderate households-hunger was 12.4%, and the prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting was 16.2%, 6.9% and 6.3%, respectively, while the CIAF was 21.3%. The prevalence was significantly higher in young children aged 12–23 months than in infants aged 6–11 months. Children from households experiencing moderate hunger had significantly higher risk of being stunting (OR: 10.20; 95%CI: 2.00–51.50), underweight (OR:3.89; 95%CI: 1.40–10.90), wasting (OR: 1.97; 95%CI: 0.99–3.90), and CIAF (OR: 1.90; 95%CI: 1.05–3.45), than those residing in households experiencing no or mild hunger. Multi-disciplinary approaches are required to improve household food-security and child dietary practices, thus the nutritional status among young children.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the data collectors and local health extension workers, the local city administration authorities and the families of the children who participated. We appreciate Mr Tilahun Bekele for his facilitation during data collection easily linking data collectors with the community. We also thank Mr Desalgn Hedeta and Mr Tesfaye Obsina for translation and edition of our research tool into local language.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition & Food Hygiene, Hubei Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, MOE Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China

    Wondu Garoma Berra & Nian-hong Yang

  2. Nutrition Unit, Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia

    Wondu Garoma Berra

Authors
  1. Wondu Garoma Berra
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  2. Nian-hong Yang
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Correspondence to Nian-hong Yang.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

This project was supported by China Scholarship Council (CSC), Nestle Nutrition Institute Africa (NINA) and Wollega University.

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Berra, W.G., Yang, Nh. Households Hunger: The Key Attribute to Anthropometric Failures of Children in West Oromia (Ethiopia). CURR MED SCI 40, 580–585 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-020-2216-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-020-2216-y

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