Sheferaw Wegayehu Enbeyle, Ogunmola Gabriel A, Marzo Roy Rillera, Abebaw Solomon, Belay Assaye, James Batholomew Chibuike, Enawgaw Yesewzer
Department of Statistics, Mizan-Tepi University, Tepi, Ethiopia.
Institute of Health Research, Faculty of Health Science, University of Canberra, Bruce, Australia.
BMC Pediatr. 2025 Jan 16;25(1):35. doi: 10.1186/s12887-025-05400-6.
Despite numerous government nutrition-specific and sensitive interventions, undernutrition (e.g., underweight) remains the major public health concern among under-five-year-old children in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess underweight and associated factors among children in Ethiopia using 2016 EDHS data.
The current study used 9,013 children under five years old. An ordinal logistic regression (e.g., proportional odds model) was applied to determine the associated risk factors of being underweight. The current study used SAS software version 9.4 at the 5% significance level.
The prevalence of underweight was 25.3%. Variables such as children's sex, place of residence, whether the child is twin at birth, breastfeeding status, size of children at birth, childbirth order, employment status of mothers, parents' educational level, children's age groups, the incidence of diarrhea in the past two weeks, and baby fortified food were statistically associated with underweight among under-five age in years.
Underweight among under-five children is predicted by place of residence. In addition, there is a regional disparity of underweight among children. Therefore, further effort is needed to improve health education in children's welfare and health facilities to enhance patients' understanding of proper information and feeding.
尽管政府采取了许多针对营养及相关敏感问题的干预措施，但营养不良（如体重不足）仍是埃塞俄比亚五岁以下儿童面临的主要公共卫生问题。因此，本研究旨在利用2016年埃塞俄比亚人口与健康调查（EDHS）数据评估该国儿童体重不足情况及其相关因素。
本研究纳入了9013名五岁以下儿童。采用有序逻辑回归（如比例优势模型）来确定体重不足的相关风险因素。本研究使用SAS软件9.4版本，显著性水平设定为5%。
体重不足的患病率为25.3%。儿童性别、居住地点、出生时是否为双胞胎、母乳喂养状况、出生时的体型、生育顺序、母亲就业状况、父母教育程度、儿童年龄组、过去两周内腹泻发病率以及婴儿强化食品等变量，在五岁以下儿童中与体重不足存在统计学关联。
居住地点可预测五岁以下儿童的体重不足情况。此外，儿童体重不足存在地区差异。因此，需要进一步努力改善儿童福利和卫生设施方面的健康教育，以增强患者对正确信息和喂养方式的理解。
