Yakob Tagese, Israel Eskinder, Yakob Begidu, Meshesha Mekdes, Jambo Endale, Utalo Tadewos, Abraham Awoke
School of Public Health, College of Health Science and Medicine, Wolaita Sodo University, Sodo, Ethiopia.
Division of Nutrition, Maternal and Child Health Unit, Wolaita Zone Health Department, Sodo, Ethiopia.
Front Nutr. 2025 Jan 3;11:1462178. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1462178. eCollection 2024.
Globally, more than 815 million estimated people worldwide suffer from malnutrition or are unable to access enough food due to malnutrition. Conflict remains the single most fundamental factor contributing to chronic malnutrition in the conflict-affected areas. Developing a healthy and balanced dietary pattern is essential for school children because their habits in this period may last longer. Therefore, the current study aimed to assess dietary adequacy level and factors associated among school children in conflicts affected communities of southern Ethiopia.
A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 616 schoolchildren aged 6 to 12 years with their caregivers using a multistage sampling method. The data were collected by using a structured questionnaire. The data were collected and entered into Epi-data version 4.6.0.2 and exported to STATA software version 14 for analysis. Adequate dietary diversity was defined as the consumption of at least five food groups. Both bivariable and multivariable binary logistic regression were performed. A -value less than 0.05 on multivariate logistic regression indicated a statistically significant association.
The overall response rate of this study was 98.5%. The median [inter quartile range (IQR)] dietary diversity score of the studies was 4(3-5) with the prevalence of inadequate dietary diversity among the school children of current study was 59.4% (95% CI, 55.17-62.99). In this study, schoolchildren with no near-health care facility (AOR = 1.95, 95% CI; 1.35-2.82), a family size greater than five (AOR = 1.44, 95% CI; 1.01-2.05), and the absence of a family home garden (AOR = 1.55, CI: 1.35-1.83) were significantly associated with low dietary diversity in school children.
When compared with other studies, dietary diversity in the current study area was low. This emphasizes the need to encourage mothers to use family planning and implementing focused public health interventions, such school lunch programs and community gardening projects, to improve children's nutritional outcomes and dietary diversity.
全球范围内，估计有超过8.15亿人营养不良或因营养不良而无法获得足够的食物。冲突仍然是冲突影响地区慢性营养不良的最根本因素。培养健康均衡的饮食模式对学童至关重要，因为他们在此期间养成的习惯可能会持续更长时间。因此，本研究旨在评估埃塞俄比亚南部受冲突影响社区学童的饮食充足水平及其相关因素。
采用多阶段抽样方法，对616名6至12岁的学童及其照顾者进行了一项基于社区的横断面研究。通过结构化问卷收集数据。数据收集后录入Epi-data 4.6.0.2版本，并导出到STATA 14软件版本进行分析。充足的饮食多样性定义为至少食用五个食物组。进行了双变量和多变量二元逻辑回归分析。多变量逻辑回归中P值小于0.05表明存在统计学显著关联。
本研究的总体应答率为98.5%。研究的饮食多样性得分中位数[四分位间距（IQR）]为4（3 - 5），本研究中学童饮食多样性不足的患病率为59.4%（95% CI，55.17 - 62.99）。在本研究中，附近没有医疗保健设施的学童（调整后比值比[AOR] = 1.95，95% CI；1.35 - 2.82）、家庭规模大于五口的学童（AOR = 1.44，95% CI；1.01 - 2.05）以及没有家庭菜园的学童（AOR = 1.55，CI：1.35 - 1.83）与学童饮食多样性低显著相关。
与其他研究相比，本研究地区的饮食多样性较低。这强调了有必要鼓励母亲们进行计划生育，并实施有针对性的公共卫生干预措施，如学校午餐计划和社区园艺项目，以改善儿童的营养状况和饮食多样性。
