Department of Global Health and Health Policy, Addis Continental Institute of Public Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ethiop J Health Sci. 2023 Nov;33(6):945-954. doi: 10.4314/ejhs.v33i6.4.
Inequalities in food allocation related to social norms among household members significantly affect the nutritional status and well-being of the vulnerable members of the household, such as adolescent girls. This study assesses the association between social norms related to intrahousehold food allocation and young adolescent girls' thinness.
The study involved 1,083 pairs of mothers/caregivers and young adolescent girls. Data were collected using a structured and pretested questionnaire. Multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression analysis was employed to examine associations using STATA/SE V.14 statistical software. In addition, a stratified analysis was done to investigate the effect of social norms on thinness in food-secure and food-insecure households.
The overall prevalence of young adolescent girls' thinness was 15.70% (95% CI 13.52-17.86%). Young adolescent girls' thinness was associated with mothers'/caregivers' conformity to inequitable intrahousehold food allocation social norms in food-secure households [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 1.43, 95% CI: 1.14-1.80] but not in food-insecure households.
Nearly 16% of adolescent girls were thin. Mothers/female caregivers conforming to inequitable intrahousehold food allocation social norms compromise the nutritional status of adolescent girls, particularly in food-secure households. The lack of statistically significant association in food-insecure households hints at the need to address inequality in food-secure households while addressing food shortage to improve the nutritional status of adolescents in low-income countries. We also recommend more studies in different sociocultural contexts to fully gather the evidence for adopting appropriate policies and practices.
家庭成员之间与食物分配有关的社会规范不平等，会对家庭中弱势成员（如少女）的营养状况和幸福感产生重大影响。本研究评估了与家庭内部食物分配有关的社会规范与少女消瘦之间的关系。
该研究涉及 1083 对母亲/照顾者和少女。使用结构化和预测试问卷收集数据。采用 STATA/SE V.14 统计软件的多级混合效应逻辑回归分析来检验关联。此外，还进行了分层分析，以调查社会规范对食物安全和不安全家庭中少女消瘦的影响。
少女消瘦的总体患病率为 15.70%（95%CI 13.52-17.86%）。少女消瘦与母亲/照顾者在食物安全家庭中对家庭内部不公平食物分配社会规范的遵从有关（调整后的优势比（AOR）：1.43，95%CI：1.14-1.80），但在食物不安全家庭中则没有。
近 16%的少女消瘦。母亲/女性照顾者遵从家庭内部不公平食物分配社会规范，会损害少女的营养状况，特别是在食物安全的家庭中。在食物安全家庭中没有统计学意义上的关联暗示，在解决粮食短缺问题以改善低收入国家青少年营养状况的同时，需要解决粮食安全家庭中的不平等问题。我们还建议在不同的社会文化背景下进行更多的研究，以充分收集证据，采取适当的政策和实践。
