Vongsakit Soulattana, Ohara Kumiko, Fujita Yuki, Takada Akihiro, Kouda Katsuyasu
Center of Nutrition, Department of Hygiene and Health Promotion, Ministry of Health, Xiangda Village, Xaysettha District, Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR.
Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Kansai Medical University, 2-5-1 Shin-machi, Hirakata, Osaka, 573-1010, Japan.
J Physiol Anthropol. 2025 Jul 12;44(1):20. doi: 10.1186/s40101-025-00402-w.
Stunting in early life is associated with increased morbidity and mortality among children under 5, as well as impaired health and educational and economic performance in later life. However, few studies have investigated risk factors associated with stunting using nationwide representative data in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). The present study investigated the association of the household wealth index with stunting among children under 5 in Lao PDR using data from the Lao Social Indicator Survey II (LSIS II).
The present cross-sectional study used secondary data from the LSIS II in 2017. The survey used multi-stage stratified cluster sampling, covering all 18 provinces with 1170 clusters (village), resulting in a sample size of 23,400 households. The final analysis included 11,339 (weighted) children under 5. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to examine associated factors.
Risk factors significantly associated with stunting were no health insurance coverage, minority ethnic groups, having ≥ 7 family members in the household, a poor household wealth index, having ≥ 2 children under 5 in the household, living in rural areas, living in the southern part, and low birth weight. Among them, household wealth index was significantly associated with stunting, independent of other socioeconomic risk factors.
The household wealth index was significantly associated with child stunting. Given the high prevalence of stunting in Lao PDR, there may be a need for the government to implement programs to improve household socioeconomic status in order to address stunting in Lao PDR.
儿童早期发育迟缓与5岁以下儿童发病率和死亡率增加相关，也与后期健康受损以及教育和经济表现不佳有关。然而，很少有研究使用老挝人民民主共和国（老挝）全国代表性数据调查与发育迟缓相关的风险因素。本研究利用老挝社会指标调查二期（LSIS II）的数据，调查了老挝5岁以下儿童家庭财富指数与发育迟缓之间的关联。
本横断面研究使用了2017年LSIS II的二手数据。该调查采用多阶段分层整群抽样，覆盖所有18个省的1170个群（村庄），样本量为23400户家庭。最终分析纳入了11339名（加权）5岁以下儿童。进行多变量逻辑回归分析以检验相关因素。
与发育迟缓显著相关的风险因素包括没有医疗保险、少数民族、家庭中有≥7名家庭成员、家庭财富指数低、家庭中有≥2名5岁以下儿童、生活在农村地区、生活在南部以及低出生体重。其中，家庭财富指数与发育迟缓显著相关，独立于其他社会经济风险因素。
家庭财富指数与儿童发育迟缓显著相关。鉴于老挝发育迟缓的高患病率，政府可能需要实施相关项目来改善家庭社会经济状况，以解决老挝的发育迟缓问题。
