Prevalence of Undernutrition and its Association with Maternal Depression among Economically Disadvantaged Women with Children Aged 12-36 Months in Selected Urban Areas of Ethiopia
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Date
2025-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Background: Undernutrition remains a global pressing public health issue, but few studies in Ethiopia have examined how maternal depression related to child undernutrition. We estimated the prevalence of child undernutrition and examined how undernutrition was associated with maternal depression in urban Ethiopia.
Objective: To assess the prevalence of undernutrition and its association with maternal depression among economically disadvantaged children aged 12-36 months in selected urban areas of Ethiopia.
Method: This study used extracted data from the baseline household survey conducted from June to September 2022 as part of the Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (GrOW) Africa project. A cross-sectional design was computed among 627 mother-child pairs. Child undernutrition was assessed using anthropometric measures and maternal depression was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9(PHQ-9). The anthropometric indices were derived from WHO 2006 Child Growth Standard. The association between child undernutrition (stunting and underweight) and maternal depression was analyzed separately using binary logistic regression. However, regression analysis was not conducted for wasting due to its low prevalence, which could lead to unreliable results. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) along with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated to measure the strength of the association.
Result: The prevalence of stunting, underweight, and wasting was 52.7% (95% CI: 48.7–56.5), 14.0% (95% CI: 11.3–16.7), and 3.6% (95% CI: 2.1–5.0), respectively. Maternal depression affected one in every six mothers (16.0%) (95% CI: 13.1–18.9). Maternal depression was significantly associated with stunting [AOR = 2.21; 95% CI: 1.11–2.15] but not with underweight, after controlling for possible confounding variables.
Conclusion: Undernutrition, mainly stunting and underweight are still alarming public problem in this study area. Maternal depression has significant association with stunting. Hence, integrating maternal mental health into child health program could enhance effort to combat child undernutrition.
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stunting underweight, wasting, maternal depression, household food insecurity, Ethiopia.