Department of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
Breastfeed Med. 2011 Aug;6(4):171-6. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2011.0016.
Malnutrition is a public health problem of significant importance in developing countries. The main aim of this survey is to assess the nutritional status of children of the Beta-Israel community in Gondar, Ethiopia, with special emphasis on the anthropometric growth patterns of infants under 5 years of age.
This is a descriptive cross-sectional survey of 794 preschool children of the Beta-Israel community. The survey comprised socioeconomic and demographic data, evaluation of anthropometric measurements, and clinical evaluation of children for nutrition-related health problems. The clinical variables included assessments for vitamin A, iodine, and iron deficiencies.
Underweight, stunting, and wasting were seen in 14.6%, 37.2%, and 4.5% of the children, respectively. Moreover, severe underweight, severe stunting, and severe wasting were seen in 2.9%, 14.8%, and 0.5% of the children, respectively. Malnutrition affected 41.4% of all the children, with those 12-23 months old suffering the most (66.7%). Multivariate analysis noted that smaller family size and younger age were related to higher occurrence of malnutrition among children. An overall rate of stunting of 37.2% exceeds the urban average rate for Ethiopia (29.8%). All the children had been breastfed at least for some time, and among those older than 6 months, 46.8% were exclusively breastfed for 6 months. Of the infants, 82.9% were breastfed for over 2 years. No correlation existed with pattern or duration of breastfeeding and degree of malnutrition in infants over 6 months.
The urban Beta-Israel Jewish pediatric population in Gondar, Ethiopia suffers from a high rate of malnutrition manifested primarily by stunting (height for age), reflecting a state of chronic malnutrition after 6 months of life secondary to inadequate sources of complementary feeds for the breastfeeding infant.
营养不良是发展中国家一个非常重要的公共卫生问题。本调查的主要目的是评估埃塞俄比亚贡德尔的 Beta-以色列社区儿童的营养状况，特别强调 5 岁以下婴儿的人体测量生长模式。
这是对 794 名 Beta-以色列社区学龄前儿童进行的描述性横断面调查。该调查包括社会经济和人口统计学数据、人体测量评估以及儿童营养相关健康问题的临床评估。临床变量包括维生素 A、碘和铁缺乏症的评估。
分别有 14.6%、37.2%和 4.5%的儿童体重不足、发育迟缓、消瘦。此外，分别有 2.9%、14.8%和 0.5%的儿童严重体重不足、严重发育迟缓、严重消瘦。所有儿童中，41.4%患有营养不良，其中 12-23 个月大的儿童受影响最大（66.7%）。多变量分析表明，家庭规模较小和年龄较小与儿童营养不良发生率较高有关。总体发育迟缓率为 37.2%，超过埃塞俄比亚城市平均水平（29.8%）。所有儿童至少母乳喂养过一段时间，6 个月以上的儿童中有 46.8%纯母乳喂养 6 个月。婴儿中，82.9%母乳喂养超过 2 年。6 个月以上婴儿的母乳喂养模式或持续时间与营养不良程度之间没有相关性。
埃塞俄比亚贡德尔的城市 Beta-以色列犹太儿科人群患有高营养不良率，主要表现为发育迟缓（年龄身高），反映出生命后 6 个月因母乳喂养婴儿补充食物来源不足而导致的慢性营养不良状态。
