Stunting and its associated factors among 6-7-year-old children in southern Iran: a nested case-control study.

OBJECTIVE

Height-for-age shorter than 3th percentile or 2 sd below the median of the National Center for Health Statistics/WHO growth reference is known as stunting. The present study aimed to measure the association of several factors with stunting in a cohort born from 2009 to 2010 in Shiraz, Iran.

DESIGN/SETTING/SUBJECTS: Nested case-control study conducted on pre-school children in 2016. Participants were 200 children suffering from stunting (case group) and 200 children with normal height (control group).

RESULTS

Results of multivariable logistic regression analysis suggested a significant relationship (adjusted OR; 95 % CI) between stunting and mother's occupation (employed . housewife: 3·58; 1·73, 7·39) and chronic diseases (yes . no: 2·93; 1·25, 6·88). In addition, significant associations were found between family income (<10 million . >30 million Rials: 5·63; 2·46, 12·87), diary consumption (very little . high: 5·93; 1·74, 20·18) and animal protein in diet (low . very high: 2·42; 1·13, 5·19) and stunting among children. Also, chance of stunting was inversely associated with birth interval (<2 years . first child: 3·13; 1·45, 6·76) and duration of exclusive breast-feeding (18-24 months . formula only or breast-feeding for <18 months: 0·53; 0·30, 0·92).

CONCLUSIONS

Mothers being housewife, possibly due to having more time to take care of their children, childhood diseases and consumption of dairy foods are strong and modifiable factors which can positively affect Iranian children's stature. Higher family income is another important factor in stunting but under less parental control.