Determinants and Health Outcomes of the Nutritional Status of Women in Ethiopia
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Date
2009-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Nuh-ition is an indispensable interface between health s tatus and food security.
Poor maternal nutrition is very common in most developing co un tr ies. The
nuh-itional status of women is a perceptive indicator of health status and
nourishment levels both the mother a nd their child ren. The cen tral objective of
this study is to analyze the socio-economic, demographic and health related
determinants of the nutritional s tatus of women in the reproductive age group
both at the national and regional levels. The study is ca rried out using
quantitative data from the 2005 Ethiopian Demographic and Hea lth Survey.
Women with body mass index less than 18.5 are considered to be at the risk of
acute undernutrition. Univariate analysis, multiple logistic regression and
multilevel logistic regression are fitted to determine the factors affecting the
nutritional status of women in the reproductive age. The study ind icated that
24.8% of women in the reproductive age are undernourished. The bivaraite
analysis indicated that region, place of residence, source of drinking water,
household economic status, employment status of women, education level of
women, age of women, marital status and parity are significantly associated with
the nourislunent level of women_ In the multivariate logistic re~-ession approach
region, place of residence, household economic status, employment status of
women, age of women and marital status are found to be the determinants of the
nutritional status of women at the national level. The multilevel logistic
regression implied place of residence, household economic status, employment
status of women and source of drinking water are determinates of the nu tr itional
status of women in the reproductive age. Maternal undernutrition is linked with
poor health status. Therefore, multisectroral policy interventions must be taken
to improve the nutritional status of women both at the national and regional
levels.
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Keywords
health status