Prevalence of under-nutrition and its associated factors among 6–23 months old children of employed and unemployed mothers in town kebeles of Dera district, northwest Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study
Abstract Background Child under-nutrition remains a widespread problem around the globe. Improving child nutrition and empowering women are two important and closely connected development goals. These two interconnected goals will affect one another through different mechanisms, and the net effect m...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-03-01
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| Series: | BMC Nutrition |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-023-00713-0 |
| _version_ | 1827974783964282880 |
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| author | Habtamu Zelalem Yeshalem Mulugeta Demilew Samuel Dagne Anteneh Mengist Dessie |
| author_facet | Habtamu Zelalem Yeshalem Mulugeta Demilew Samuel Dagne Anteneh Mengist Dessie |
| author_sort | Habtamu Zelalem |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Child under-nutrition remains a widespread problem around the globe. Improving child nutrition and empowering women are two important and closely connected development goals. These two interconnected goals will affect one another through different mechanisms, and the net effect may not necessarily be positive. Yet, the impact of maternal employment, one method of empowering mothers, on children’s nutritional is not well studied in Ethiopia. Hence, this study is to compare the prevalence of under-nutrition and its associated factors among 6–23 months old children of employed and unemployed mothers in town kebeles of Dera district, Northwest Ethiopia, 2022. Methods A community-based comparative cross-sectional study design was conducted among 356 employed and 356 unemployed mothers having 6–23 months old children. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select study participants. Epi-data version 3.1 and SPSS version 25.0 statistical software were used for data entry and analysis, respectively. Both bi-variable and multivariable binary logistic regression was done to assess the association between independent and dependent variables. A p-value of less than 0.05 in a multivariable binary logistic regression was declared as the level of statistical significance. Result The prevalence of under-nutrition was 69.8% (95% CI: 65.0, 74.7) among children of unemployed mothers, compared to 27.4% (95% CI: 22.7, 32.2) among children of employed mothers. Under-nutrition among children of unemployed mothers was significantly associated with being a male child, age increase by one month, household food insecurity, lack of ANC follow-up, and not exclusively breastfed. Whereas, among children of employed mothers, being a male child, age increase by one month, being sick during the last two weeks prior to data collection, not immunized to their age, and low meal frequency were significantly associated with their under-nutrition. Conclusion The prevalence of under-nutrition among children of unemployed women is significantly higher than those children of employed women which consolidate the evidence that women’s employment status have a positive association with child nutrition. Different factors were also identified as significant predictors of child under-nutrition among these two groups (employed and unemployed women). Thus, multi-sectoral intervention approach together with agriculture and education offices should be strengthened. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:59:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9eaf0714defe45878ebb9e0243f80786 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2055-0928 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:59:53Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Nutrition |
| spelling | doaj.art-9eaf0714defe45878ebb9e0243f807862023-04-03T05:19:32ZengBMCBMC Nutrition2055-09282023-03-019111010.1186/s40795-023-00713-0Prevalence of under-nutrition and its associated factors among 6–23 months old children of employed and unemployed mothers in town kebeles of Dera district, northwest Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional studyHabtamu Zelalem0Yeshalem Mulugeta Demilew1Samuel Dagne2Anteneh Mengist Dessie3Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Felege Hiwot Comperhensive Specialized HospitalDepartment of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Science, Bahir Dar UniversityDepartment of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Science, Bahir Dar UniversityDepartment of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor UniversityAbstract Background Child under-nutrition remains a widespread problem around the globe. Improving child nutrition and empowering women are two important and closely connected development goals. These two interconnected goals will affect one another through different mechanisms, and the net effect may not necessarily be positive. Yet, the impact of maternal employment, one method of empowering mothers, on children’s nutritional is not well studied in Ethiopia. Hence, this study is to compare the prevalence of under-nutrition and its associated factors among 6–23 months old children of employed and unemployed mothers in town kebeles of Dera district, Northwest Ethiopia, 2022. Methods A community-based comparative cross-sectional study design was conducted among 356 employed and 356 unemployed mothers having 6–23 months old children. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select study participants. Epi-data version 3.1 and SPSS version 25.0 statistical software were used for data entry and analysis, respectively. Both bi-variable and multivariable binary logistic regression was done to assess the association between independent and dependent variables. A p-value of less than 0.05 in a multivariable binary logistic regression was declared as the level of statistical significance. Result The prevalence of under-nutrition was 69.8% (95% CI: 65.0, 74.7) among children of unemployed mothers, compared to 27.4% (95% CI: 22.7, 32.2) among children of employed mothers. Under-nutrition among children of unemployed mothers was significantly associated with being a male child, age increase by one month, household food insecurity, lack of ANC follow-up, and not exclusively breastfed. Whereas, among children of employed mothers, being a male child, age increase by one month, being sick during the last two weeks prior to data collection, not immunized to their age, and low meal frequency were significantly associated with their under-nutrition. Conclusion The prevalence of under-nutrition among children of unemployed women is significantly higher than those children of employed women which consolidate the evidence that women’s employment status have a positive association with child nutrition. Different factors were also identified as significant predictors of child under-nutrition among these two groups (employed and unemployed women). Thus, multi-sectoral intervention approach together with agriculture and education offices should be strengthened.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-023-00713-0Under-nutrition6–23 months Old ChildrenMaternal employmentDera districtNorthwest Ethiopia |
| spellingShingle | Habtamu Zelalem Yeshalem Mulugeta Demilew Samuel Dagne Anteneh Mengist Dessie Prevalence of under-nutrition and its associated factors among 6–23 months old children of employed and unemployed mothers in town kebeles of Dera district, northwest Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study BMC Nutrition Under-nutrition 6–23 months Old Children Maternal employment Dera district Northwest Ethiopia |
| title | Prevalence of under-nutrition and its associated factors among 6–23 months old children of employed and unemployed mothers in town kebeles of Dera district, northwest Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study |
| title_full | Prevalence of under-nutrition and its associated factors among 6–23 months old children of employed and unemployed mothers in town kebeles of Dera district, northwest Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study |
| title_fullStr | Prevalence of under-nutrition and its associated factors among 6–23 months old children of employed and unemployed mothers in town kebeles of Dera district, northwest Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prevalence of under-nutrition and its associated factors among 6–23 months old children of employed and unemployed mothers in town kebeles of Dera district, northwest Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study |
| title_short | Prevalence of under-nutrition and its associated factors among 6–23 months old children of employed and unemployed mothers in town kebeles of Dera district, northwest Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study |
| title_sort | prevalence of under nutrition and its associated factors among 6 23 months old children of employed and unemployed mothers in town kebeles of dera district northwest ethiopia a comparative cross sectional study |
| topic | Under-nutrition 6–23 months Old Children Maternal employment Dera district Northwest Ethiopia |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-023-00713-0 |
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