Nutritional status and associated factors among school age children in Southeast Ethiopia using a bayesian analysis approach
Abstract Undernutrition among school-age children is a major public health concern in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to assess the nutritional status and associated factors among school-age children in the hard-to-reach pastoral communities in Southeast Ethiopia. We conducted a school-based cr...
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| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-10743-2 |
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| author | Girma Beressa Garumma Tolu Feyissa Mary Murimi Abduljewad Hussen Muhammed Adem Abdulkadir Alelign Tasew Jema Arefayne Alenko Aweke Kebede Bikila Lencha Biniyam Sahiledengle Damtew Solomon Daniel Atlaw Degefa Gomora Demisu Zenbaba Diriba Dibaba Eshetu Nigussie Fikadu Nugusu Fikreab Desta Neway Ejigu Senahara Korsa Wake Shimelis Girma Tafese Dejene Jidha Tamiru Yazew Telila Mesfin Tadesse Tesfaye Elala Yohannes Tekalegn Tefera Belachew |
| author_facet | Girma Beressa Garumma Tolu Feyissa Mary Murimi Abduljewad Hussen Muhammed Adem Abdulkadir Alelign Tasew Jema Arefayne Alenko Aweke Kebede Bikila Lencha Biniyam Sahiledengle Damtew Solomon Daniel Atlaw Degefa Gomora Demisu Zenbaba Diriba Dibaba Eshetu Nigussie Fikadu Nugusu Fikreab Desta Neway Ejigu Senahara Korsa Wake Shimelis Girma Tafese Dejene Jidha Tamiru Yazew Telila Mesfin Tadesse Tesfaye Elala Yohannes Tekalegn Tefera Belachew |
| author_sort | Girma Beressa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Undernutrition among school-age children is a major public health concern in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to assess the nutritional status and associated factors among school-age children in the hard-to-reach pastoral communities in Southeast Ethiopia. We conducted a school-based cross-sectional study among 395 randomly selected schoolchildren aged 7–14 years in pastoral communities in Bale Zone. We employed a hybrid of multistage sampling and systematic random sampling to select the respondents. We used the Z scores of height for age (HAZ) and body mass index for age (BAZ) based on the World Health Organization (WHO) guidance to classify nutritional status of the school-age children. We conducted a Bayesian linear regression analysis estimation using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). We calculated the mean, along with a 95% Bayesian credible interval (BCI), to identify factors associated with nutritional status. The overall prevalence of stunting and thinness among school-age children 7–14 years was 26.6% (95% CI: 21.8, 31.4%) and 28.9% (95% CI: 24.3, 33.2%), respectively. The mean and SD of HAZ and BAZ scores were -0.82 (2.13) and -0.87 (1.73), respectively. A unit increment in the age of the child and a unit increment in dietary diversity score were associated with an increment in HAZ scores by 0.122 and 0.120 units, respectively. Travelling to school for more than 30 min and more (compared to travelling less than 30 min) and being a child of a literate father (compared to being a child of an illiterate father) were associated with a decrement in the mean HAZ scores by 0.81 and 0.675 units, respectively. Children who come from rich families had BAZ scores, which are about 0.50 units higher when compared to those children coming from poor families. The high burden of stunting and thinning among the hard-to-reach pastoral communities underscores the importance of strengthening nutrition intervention programs such as school feeding and multisectoral collaboration and economic empowerment to improve accessibility of diversified food among school-age children in the hard-to-reach pastoral communities. Younger school children, children from poor families and children who have less access to school and diverse diets should be prioritised during school based nutritional interventions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a31b438dc06e4e91ac9c1e0c5ea82b47 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-a31b438dc06e4e91ac9c1e0c5ea82b472025-08-20T04:02:46ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111110.1038/s41598-025-10743-2Nutritional status and associated factors among school age children in Southeast Ethiopia using a bayesian analysis approachGirma Beressa0Garumma Tolu Feyissa1Mary Murimi2Abduljewad Hussen Muhammed3Adem Abdulkadir4Alelign Tasew Jema5Arefayne Alenko6Aweke Kebede7Bikila Lencha8Biniyam Sahiledengle9Damtew Solomon10Daniel Atlaw11Degefa Gomora12Demisu Zenbaba13Diriba Dibaba14Eshetu Nigussie15Fikadu Nugusu16Fikreab Desta17Neway Ejigu18Senahara Korsa Wake19Shimelis Girma20Tafese Dejene Jidha21Tamiru Yazew22Telila Mesfin Tadesse23Tesfaye Elala24Yohannes Tekalegn25Tefera Belachew26School of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu UniversityDepartment of Health and Nutrition Sciences, Brooklyn College, City University of New YorkDepartment of Nutritional Sciences, Texas Tech UniversitySchool of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu UniversitySchool of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu UniversitySchool of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Jimma UniversityNutrition Policy, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, Ministry of HealthSchool of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu UniversitySchool of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu UniversitySchool of Medicine, Madda Walabu UniversitySchool of Medicine, Madda Walabu UniversitySchool of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu UniversitySchool of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu UniversitySchool of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu UniversitySchool of Medicine, Madda Walabu UniversitySchool of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu UniversitySchool of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu UniversitySchool of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu UniversityCollege of Natural and Computational Sciences, Ambo UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Jimma UniversityCollege of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dire Dawa UniversityDepartment of Public Health, Salale UniversitySchool of Medicine, Madda Walabu UniversitySchool of Medicine, Madda Walabu UniversitySchool of Health Sciences, Madda Walabu UniversityNutrition and Dietetics Department, Faculty of Public Health, Jimma UniversityAbstract Undernutrition among school-age children is a major public health concern in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to assess the nutritional status and associated factors among school-age children in the hard-to-reach pastoral communities in Southeast Ethiopia. We conducted a school-based cross-sectional study among 395 randomly selected schoolchildren aged 7–14 years in pastoral communities in Bale Zone. We employed a hybrid of multistage sampling and systematic random sampling to select the respondents. We used the Z scores of height for age (HAZ) and body mass index for age (BAZ) based on the World Health Organization (WHO) guidance to classify nutritional status of the school-age children. We conducted a Bayesian linear regression analysis estimation using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). We calculated the mean, along with a 95% Bayesian credible interval (BCI), to identify factors associated with nutritional status. The overall prevalence of stunting and thinness among school-age children 7–14 years was 26.6% (95% CI: 21.8, 31.4%) and 28.9% (95% CI: 24.3, 33.2%), respectively. The mean and SD of HAZ and BAZ scores were -0.82 (2.13) and -0.87 (1.73), respectively. A unit increment in the age of the child and a unit increment in dietary diversity score were associated with an increment in HAZ scores by 0.122 and 0.120 units, respectively. Travelling to school for more than 30 min and more (compared to travelling less than 30 min) and being a child of a literate father (compared to being a child of an illiterate father) were associated with a decrement in the mean HAZ scores by 0.81 and 0.675 units, respectively. Children who come from rich families had BAZ scores, which are about 0.50 units higher when compared to those children coming from poor families. The high burden of stunting and thinning among the hard-to-reach pastoral communities underscores the importance of strengthening nutrition intervention programs such as school feeding and multisectoral collaboration and economic empowerment to improve accessibility of diversified food among school-age children in the hard-to-reach pastoral communities. Younger school children, children from poor families and children who have less access to school and diverse diets should be prioritised during school based nutritional interventions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-10743-2 |
| spellingShingle | Girma Beressa Garumma Tolu Feyissa Mary Murimi Abduljewad Hussen Muhammed Adem Abdulkadir Alelign Tasew Jema Arefayne Alenko Aweke Kebede Bikila Lencha Biniyam Sahiledengle Damtew Solomon Daniel Atlaw Degefa Gomora Demisu Zenbaba Diriba Dibaba Eshetu Nigussie Fikadu Nugusu Fikreab Desta Neway Ejigu Senahara Korsa Wake Shimelis Girma Tafese Dejene Jidha Tamiru Yazew Telila Mesfin Tadesse Tesfaye Elala Yohannes Tekalegn Tefera Belachew Nutritional status and associated factors among school age children in Southeast Ethiopia using a bayesian analysis approach Scientific Reports |
| title | Nutritional status and associated factors among school age children in Southeast Ethiopia using a bayesian analysis approach |
| title_full | Nutritional status and associated factors among school age children in Southeast Ethiopia using a bayesian analysis approach |
| title_fullStr | Nutritional status and associated factors among school age children in Southeast Ethiopia using a bayesian analysis approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nutritional status and associated factors among school age children in Southeast Ethiopia using a bayesian analysis approach |
| title_short | Nutritional status and associated factors among school age children in Southeast Ethiopia using a bayesian analysis approach |
| title_sort | nutritional status and associated factors among school age children in southeast ethiopia using a bayesian analysis approach |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-10743-2 |
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