Khamis Ahmed Gharib, Mwanri Akwilina Wendelin, Ntwenya Julius Edward
Zanzibar Agricultural and Livestock Research Institute Zanzibar Tanzania.
Department of Human Nutrition and Consumer Sciences Sokoine University of Agriculture Morogoro Tanzania.
Food Sci Nutr. 2024 Dec 10;13(1):e4648. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.4648. eCollection 2025 Jan.
Undernutrition has been identified as a significant public health challenge in developing nations like Tanzania. Severe childhood undernutrition is a life-threatening problem that can result in impaired growth, weakened immune systems, and even death. The primary aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of multiple forms of severe undernutrition and factors associated with the severity of childhood undernutrition in children aged 6-59 months in Tanzania. This was a secondary data analysis conducted on a cross-sectional survey obtained from the 2022 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey Malaria Indicator Survey (TDHS-MIS). This analysis comprised 4224 children with complete information. The study employed the proportional odds model of ordinal logistic regression to identify factors associated with severity of stunting, wasting, and anemia. Out of the 4224 included children, 8.6% were severely stunted, 0.8% were severely wasted, and 1.7% were severely anemic. The prevalence of multiple forms of severe undernutrition was 10.4%. Significant associations were observed between socioeconomic factors-including the gender and age of the household head, household wealth status, possession of health insurance, and availability of mosquito nets with severe undernutrition. Maternal factors such as nutrition status, current age, age at first birth, education, marriage, and occupation were related to the severity of undernutrition. Approximately one children out of every 10 suffers from some form of severe undernutrition in Tanzania. Several factors including maternal and socioeconomic were identified as potentially influencing severe undernutrition. Multifaceted efforts are required to lessen the severity of undernutrition.
营养不良已被视为坦桑尼亚等发展中国家面临的重大公共卫生挑战。严重的儿童营养不良是一个危及生命的问题，可能导致生长发育受损、免疫系统减弱，甚至死亡。本研究的主要目的是确定坦桑尼亚6至59个月儿童中多种形式的严重营养不良的患病率，以及与儿童营养不良严重程度相关的因素。这是一项对2022年坦桑尼亚人口与健康调查疟疾指标调查（TDHS-MIS）的横断面调查数据进行的二次数据分析。该分析涵盖了4224名信息完整的儿童。该研究采用有序逻辑回归的比例优势模型来确定与发育迟缓、消瘦和贫血严重程度相关的因素。在纳入研究的4224名儿童中，8.6%严重发育迟缓，0.8%严重消瘦，1.7%严重贫血。多种形式的严重营养不良患病率为10.4%。研究观察到社会经济因素（包括户主的性别和年龄、家庭财富状况、是否拥有医疗保险以及蚊帐的可获得性）与严重营养不良之间存在显著关联。母亲的因素，如营养状况、当前年龄、初育年龄、教育程度、婚姻状况和职业，与营养不良的严重程度有关。在坦桑尼亚，每10个孩子中约有1个患有某种形式的严重营养不良。包括母亲因素和社会经济因素在内的几个因素被确定为可能影响严重营养不良的因素。需要采取多方面的努力来减轻营养不良的严重程度。
