McGill Institute for Global Food Security, Macdonald Campus, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada.
Master student in School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition in McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
BMC Public Health. 2018 May 15;18(1):626. doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5541-3.
Malnutrition is one of the major contributors to child mortality in Ethiopia. Currently established, child nutrition status is assessed by four anthropometric indicators. However, there are other factors affecting children's anthropometric statuses. Thus, the main objective of this paper is to explore some of the determinants of child anthropometric indicators in Ethiopia.
Data from GROW (the Growing Nutrition for Mothers and Children), a survey including 1261 mothers and 1261 children was carried out in Ethiopia in 2016. Based on the data gathered, the goal of GROW is to improve the nutritional status of women of reproductive age (15-49), as well as boys and girls under 5 years of age in Ethiopia. In order to investigate the association between different factors and child anthropometric indicators, this study employs various statistical methods, such as ANOVA, T-test, and linear regressions.
Child's sex (confidence intervals for (wasting = - 0.782, - 0.151; stunting = - 0.936,-0.243) (underweight = - 0.530, - 0.008), child's age (confidence intervals for (wasting = - 0.020, 0.007; stunting = - 0.042,-0.011) (underweight = - 0.025, - 0.002), maternal MUAC (confidence intervals for (wasting = 0.189, 0.985; BMI-for-age = 0.077, 0.895), maternal education (stunting = 0.095, 0.897; underweight = 0.120, 0.729), and open defecation (stunting = 0.055, 0.332; underweight = 0.042, 0.257) were found to be significantly associated with anthropometric indicators. Contrary to some findings, maternal dietary diversity does not present significance in aforementioned child anthropometric indicators.
Depending on the choice of children anthropometric indicator, different conclusions were drawn demonstrating the association between each factor to child nutritional status. Results showed child's sex, age, region, open defecation, and maternal MUAC significantly increases the risk of child anthropometric indicators. Highlighting the factors influencing child undernutrition will help inform future policies and programs designed to approach this major problem in Ethiopia.
营养不良是导致埃塞俄比亚儿童死亡的主要原因之一。目前，儿童营养状况是通过四项人体测量指标来评估的。然而，还有其他因素会影响儿童的人体测量状况。因此，本文的主要目的是探讨埃塞俄比亚儿童人体测量指标的一些决定因素。
本研究基于 2016 年在埃塞俄比亚开展的 GROW（为母亲和儿童提供成长营养）调查的数据，该调查包括 1261 名母亲和 1261 名儿童。GROW 的目标是改善埃塞俄比亚育龄妇女（15-49 岁）以及 5 岁以下男童和女童的营养状况。为了研究不同因素与儿童人体测量指标之间的关系，本研究采用了方差分析、T 检验和线性回归等多种统计方法。
儿童的性别（消瘦的置信区间为（-0.782，-0.151）；发育迟缓的置信区间为（-0.936，-0.243）；体重不足的置信区间为（-0.530，-0.008））、儿童的年龄（消瘦的置信区间为（-0.020，0.007）；发育迟缓的置信区间为（-0.042，-0.011）；体重不足的置信区间为（-0.025，-0.002））、母亲的 MUAC（消瘦的置信区间为（0.189，0.985）；BMI 与年龄比值的置信区间为（0.077，0.895）；发育迟缓的置信区间为（0.095，0.897）；体重不足的置信区间为（0.120，0.729））、母亲的教育程度（发育迟缓的置信区间为（0.095，0.897）；体重不足的置信区间为（0.120，0.729））和露天排便（发育迟缓的置信区间为（0.055，0.332）；体重不足的置信区间为（0.042，0.257））与人体测量指标显著相关。与一些研究结果相反，母亲的饮食多样性在上述儿童人体测量指标中并不显著。
根据儿童人体测量指标的选择，不同的结论表明每个因素与儿童营养状况之间存在关联。结果表明，儿童的性别、年龄、地区、露天排便和母亲的 MUAC 显著增加了儿童人体测量指标的风险。强调影响儿童营养不良的因素将有助于为埃塞俄比亚的这一重大问题提供未来的政策和方案。
