Risk Factors in Childhood Malnutrition Genale Awraja South East Ethiopia.
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Date
1988-02
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The nutritional status of a homogenous rural Ethiopian community was studied. A total of 1020 children. 498 (48.8% boys & 522 (51.2%) girls ill the age group 6-59 months participated in the study. Factors that may possibly be involved in protein energy malnutrition were studied. As age of study children was difficult to determine to the exact month the relatively age independent anthropometric index weight for height was used. III all cases bivariate analyses were done. 302 (29. 6%) of the study children were found to be below-2 Z-SCORE of the NCHS weight for h ei~.t reference. There was no difference in the prevalence of malnutrition in the two sexes. However, boys were he River &taller than girls. Socia- demographic variables like I,. Come, family size, polygamy, membership of the family to farmers' producer’s co- operatives and maternal literacy did not show any correlation with the nutritional status of the child. Having more than one child in the age group 6- 59 months old in a family predicted malnutrition. Duration of breast feeding was shown to be inversely related to nutritional status. Recent illnesses of diarrhea, fever &cough were strongly associated with poor nutritional status. Two hundred fifteen (21.1%) of the study children were completely immunized.
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Malnutrition