SEARCHCOHORTpediatrics, public health

cohort·pediatrics, public health, nutrition, epidemiology, observational study·PMC10585928

Gender-specific disaggregated analysis of childhood undernutrition in Ethiopia: evidence from 2000–2016 nationwide survey

BMC Public Health · 4 authors, 8 centres

AI SUMMARY

FIDELITY 100%

This summary was generated by AI from a single paper. It has not been reviewed by a clinician and is not clinical advice. Verify against the source before acting on it.

AGENT 01 · STRUCTURED SUMMARY

TRACE TO SOURCE

“

TL;DR

This study analyzed nationally representative survey data from Ethiopia to compare the prevalence and associated factors of stunting, wasting, and underweight among boys and girls under five. The central result is that boys had a significantly higher prevalence and adjusted odds of all three forms of undernutrition compared to girls.

Full summary

1,055 CHARS

This study used a pooled dataset from the nationally representative Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) conducted from 2000 to 2016, including over 33,564 children under five years. The analysis employed gender-specific multilevel models to compare the prevalence and factors associated with stunting, wasting, and underweight between boys and girls. Results showed a higher prevalence of stunting (49.1% vs. 45.3%), wasting (11.9% vs. 9.9%), and underweight (33.1% vs. 29.8%) in boys compared to girls, with adjusted odds ratios of 1.31, 1.35, and 1.38 respectively. Common factors for undernutrition in both sexes included child's age, perceived birth size, breastfeeding status, maternal stature, and socioeconomic conditions. Some risk factors were gender-specific, such as boys being more likely to be wasted if perceived as average-sized at birth and born to uneducated mothers. The findings highlight a significant gender disparity in childhood undernutrition in Ethiopia, underscoring the need for sex-specific nutritional interventions.

STUDY TYPE

cohort

SPECIALTY

pediatrics

SUMMARISED BY

AI pipeline

FIDELITY CHECK

100% · A

ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10585928

Gender-specific disaggregated analysis of childhood undernutrition in Ethiopia: evidence from 2000–2016 nationwide survey

BMC Public Health

READ THE FULL PAPER

ABSTRACT

Introduction Childhood undernutrition has been investigated extensively in previous literature but gender inequality detailing the burden of undernutrition has not been adequately addressed in scientific papers, especially in Ethiopia, where undernutrition is known to be a public health problem of high significance, necessitating increased efforts to address it and reduce this inequality. This study was carried out to: (1) explore gender differences in the prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight, and (2) compare the factors associated with childhood undernutrition between boys and girls in Ethiopia. Methods The study used a dataset of more than 33,564 children aged under 5 years (boys: 17,078 and girls: 16,486) who were included in the nationally representative Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) from 2000 to 2016. The outcome variables were anthropometric indices: stunting (height-for-age < -2 standard deviations), wasting (weight-for-height < -2 standard deviations), and underweight (weight-for-age < -2 standard deviations). Gender-specific multilevel analyses were used to examine and compare the factors associated with child undernutrition. Results The overall prevalence of stunting (49.1% for boys vs 45.3% for girls, p < 0.001), wasting (11.9% for boys vs 9.9% for girls, p < 0.001), and underweight (33.1% for boys vs 29.8% for girls, p < 0.001) higher among boys compared to girls. Boys significantly had higher odds of stunting (aOR: 1.31, 95%CI: 1.21–1.42), wasting (aOR: 1.35, 1.23–1.48), and underweight (aOR: 1.38, 95%CI: 1.26–1.50) than girls. The common factors associated with childhood undernutrition for male and female children were the child's age, perceived size of the child at birth, breastfeeding status, maternal stature, maternal education, toilet facility, wealth index, and place of residence. Boys who were perceived by their mothers to be average sized at birth and were born to uneducated mothers had a higher likelihood of experiencing wasting, in contrast to girls. Among boys, birth order (firstborn), household size (1–4), and place of residence (urban) were associated with lower odds of being underweight. Boys living in cities had lower odds of being stunted. While girls born to mothers with no education and worked in agriculture were at a higher odd of being stunted. Conclusion Our study revealed that boys were more likely to be malnourished than girls, regardless of their age category, and there were variations in the factors determining undernutrition among boys and girls. The differences in the burden of undernutrition were significant and alarming, positioning Ethiopia to be questioned whether it will meet the set Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 2 of zero hunger by 2030. These findings call for more effort to address malnutrition as a significant public health issue in Ethiopia, and to urgently recognise the need for enhanced interventions that address the gender gap in childhood undernutrition. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-023-16907-x.

CITATION EXPORT

Biniyam Sahiledengle, Lillian Mwanri, Cauane Blumenberg et al.. Gender-specific disaggregated analysis of childhood undernutrition in Ethiopia: evidence from 2000–2016 nationwide survey. BMC Public Health. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16907-x

AUTHORS

4 · 8 CENTRES

Biniyam Sahiledengle, Lillian Mwanri, Cauane Blumenberg, Kingsley Emwinyore Agho

1https://ror.org/04zte5g15grid.466885.10000 0004 0500 457XDepartment of Public Health, Madda Walabu University Goba Referral Hospital, Bale-Goba, Ethiopia
2https://ror.org/0351xae06grid.449625.80000 0004 4654 2104Research Centre for Public Health, Equity and Human Flourishing (PHEHF), Torrens University Australia, Adelaide Campus, SA 5000 Australia
3https://ror.org/05msy9z54grid.411221.50000 0001 2134 6519International Center for Equity in Health, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil
4https://ror.org/05msy9z54grid.411221.50000 0001 2134 6519Post-Graduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil
5Causale Consultoria, Pelotas, Brazil
6https://ror.org/03t52dk35grid.1029.a0000 0000 9939 5719School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751 Australia
7grid.1029.a0000 0000 9939 5719School of Medicine, Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown Campus, Penrith, NSW 2571 Australia
8https://ror.org/04z6c2n17grid.412988.e0000 0001 0109 131XFaculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa