Determinants of stunting among under-five children in Ethiopia: a multilevel mixed-effects analysis of 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey data

Abstract Background Childhood stunting is the most widely prevalent among under-five children in Ethiopia. Despite the individual-level factors of childhood stunting are well documented, community-level factors have not been given much attention in the country. This study aimed to identify individua...

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Main Authors: K. Fantay Gebru, W. Mekonnen Haileselassie, A. Haftom Temesgen, A. Oumer Seid, B. Afework Mulugeta
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2019-06-01
Series:BMC Pediatrics
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12887-019-1545-0
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author K. Fantay Gebru
W. Mekonnen Haileselassie
A. Haftom Temesgen
A. Oumer Seid
B. Afework Mulugeta
author_facet K. Fantay Gebru
W. Mekonnen Haileselassie
A. Haftom Temesgen
A. Oumer Seid
B. Afework Mulugeta
author_sort K. Fantay Gebru
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Childhood stunting is the most widely prevalent among under-five children in Ethiopia. Despite the individual-level factors of childhood stunting are well documented, community-level factors have not been given much attention in the country. This study aimed to identify individual- and community-level factors associated with stunting among under-five children in Ethiopia. Methods Cross-sectional data from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey was used. A total of 8855 under-five children and 640 community clusters were included in the current analysis. A multilevel logistic regression model was used at 5% level of significance to determine the individual- and community-level factors associated with childhood stunting. Results The prevalence of stunting was found to be 38.39% in Ethiopian under-five children. The study showed that the percentage change in variance of the full model accounted for about 53.6% in odds of childhood stunting across the communities. At individual-level, ages of the child above 12 months, male gender, small size of the child at birth, children from poor households, low maternal education, and being multiple birth had significantly increased the odds of childhood stunting. At community-level, children from communities of Amhara, Tigray, and Benishangul more suffer from childhood stunting as compared to Addis Ababa’s community children. Similarly, children from Muslim, Orthodox and other traditional religion followers had higher log odds of stunting relative to children of the protestant community. Conclusions This study showed individual- and community-level factors determined childhood stunting in Ethiopian children. Promotion of girl education, improving the economic status of households, improving maternal nutrition, improving age-specific child feeding practices, nutritional care of low birth weight babies, promotion of context-specific child feeding practices and narrowing rural-urban disparities are recommended.
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spelling doaj.art-16564f37eb28416bb43ec5407a92565d2022-12-21T19:51:39ZengBMCBMC Pediatrics1471-24312019-06-0119111310.1186/s12887-019-1545-0Determinants of stunting among under-five children in Ethiopia: a multilevel mixed-effects analysis of 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey dataK. Fantay Gebru0W. Mekonnen Haileselassie1A. Haftom Temesgen2A. Oumer Seid3B. Afework Mulugeta4Tigray National Regional State, Bureau of Science and TechnologyTigray National Regional State, Bureau of Science and TechnologySchool of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle UniversitySchool of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle UniversitySchool of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle UniversityAbstract Background Childhood stunting is the most widely prevalent among under-five children in Ethiopia. Despite the individual-level factors of childhood stunting are well documented, community-level factors have not been given much attention in the country. This study aimed to identify individual- and community-level factors associated with stunting among under-five children in Ethiopia. Methods Cross-sectional data from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey was used. A total of 8855 under-five children and 640 community clusters were included in the current analysis. A multilevel logistic regression model was used at 5% level of significance to determine the individual- and community-level factors associated with childhood stunting. Results The prevalence of stunting was found to be 38.39% in Ethiopian under-five children. The study showed that the percentage change in variance of the full model accounted for about 53.6% in odds of childhood stunting across the communities. At individual-level, ages of the child above 12 months, male gender, small size of the child at birth, children from poor households, low maternal education, and being multiple birth had significantly increased the odds of childhood stunting. At community-level, children from communities of Amhara, Tigray, and Benishangul more suffer from childhood stunting as compared to Addis Ababa’s community children. Similarly, children from Muslim, Orthodox and other traditional religion followers had higher log odds of stunting relative to children of the protestant community. Conclusions This study showed individual- and community-level factors determined childhood stunting in Ethiopian children. Promotion of girl education, improving the economic status of households, improving maternal nutrition, improving age-specific child feeding practices, nutritional care of low birth weight babies, promotion of context-specific child feeding practices and narrowing rural-urban disparities are recommended.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12887-019-1545-0StuntingMultilevel levelIndividual factorsCommunity factorsUnder-five childrenEthiopia
spellingShingle K. Fantay Gebru
W. Mekonnen Haileselassie
A. Haftom Temesgen
A. Oumer Seid
B. Afework Mulugeta
Determinants of stunting among under-five children in Ethiopia: a multilevel mixed-effects analysis of 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey data
BMC Pediatrics
Stunting
Multilevel level
Individual factors
Community factors
Under-five children
Ethiopia
title Determinants of stunting among under-five children in Ethiopia: a multilevel mixed-effects analysis of 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey data
title_full Determinants of stunting among under-five children in Ethiopia: a multilevel mixed-effects analysis of 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey data
title_fullStr Determinants of stunting among under-five children in Ethiopia: a multilevel mixed-effects analysis of 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey data
title_full_unstemmed Determinants of stunting among under-five children in Ethiopia: a multilevel mixed-effects analysis of 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey data
title_short Determinants of stunting among under-five children in Ethiopia: a multilevel mixed-effects analysis of 2016 Ethiopian demographic and health survey data
title_sort determinants of stunting among under five children in ethiopia a multilevel mixed effects analysis of 2016 ethiopian demographic and health survey data
topic Stunting
Multilevel level
Individual factors
Community factors
Under-five children
Ethiopia
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12887-019-1545-0
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