Nutritional Status of Children and Its Associated Factors in Selected Earthquake-Affected VDCs of Gorkha District, Nepal

Background. Malnutrition is a major public health problem and most enveloping cause of morbidity and mortality among children and adolescents throughout the world. This study was aimed at assessing the nutritional status and associated factors among 6-10-year-old children in selected earthquake-affe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Asmita Shrestha, Chet Kant Bhusal, Binjwala Shrestha, Kiran Dev Bhattarai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-01-01
Series:International Journal of Pediatrics
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/5849548
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850165257686745088
author Asmita Shrestha
Chet Kant Bhusal
Binjwala Shrestha
Kiran Dev Bhattarai
author_facet Asmita Shrestha
Chet Kant Bhusal
Binjwala Shrestha
Kiran Dev Bhattarai
author_sort Asmita Shrestha
collection DOAJ
description Background. Malnutrition is a major public health problem and most enveloping cause of morbidity and mortality among children and adolescents throughout the world. This study was aimed at assessing the nutritional status and associated factors among 6-10-year-old children in selected earthquake-affected areas of Gorkha district, Nepal. Methods. A community-based cross-sectional study among 420 mothers having children of age groups 6-10 years (with anthropometric measurement among children) was conducted using a mixed method in selected earthquake-affected areas of Gorkha district, Nepal, from October 2015 to April 2016. Gorkha was selected purposively from 14 earthquake-affected districts. Two village development committees were selected randomly among 6 having severe impact. Randomly, 5 wards were selected from each of the 2 village development committees. As the sample was 420, 42 children were selected randomly from every ward. Result. Among the 420 children, 31.9% were underweight, 51.9% were stunted, and 2.9% were wasted after the earthquake. Children who were more prone to being underweight were the following: male children (RR=1.34 95% CI: 1.01-1.78) and children from illiterate mothers (RR=2.49, 95% CI: 1.85-3.36), illiterate fathers (RR=1.73, 95% CI: 1.32-2.27), and homemaker mothers (RR=0.28, 95% CI: 0.20-0.38); children whose families were using nonimproved sources of water (RR=2.60, 95% CI: 1.07-6.60); and households having food insecurity (RR=12.97, 95% CI: 3.29-51.18). Similarly, children of illiterate fathers (RR=1.67, 95% CI: 1.41-1.97), children of illiterate mothers (RR=2.32, 95% CI: 1.91-2.83), children of homemaker mothers (RR=0.59, 95% CI: 0.49-0.70), children whose family were using treated water (RR=0.32, 95% CI: 0.15-0.67), and children from food insecure households (RR=10.52, CI: 4.05-27.33) were found to be stunted. After adjustment, children from households consuming nonimproved water were 6 times more likely (OR=6.75; 95% CI: 1.59-28.62) to be wasted. Conclusion. Illiterate mothers, illiterate fathers, mothers engaged in occupation other than household work, and food insecure households were found to be independent predictors of underweight and stunting. Nonimproved source of drinking water was found to be independent predictors of wasting.
format Article
id doaj-art-ecb09f7f3e8d4e719ce56c25342b623b
institution OA Journals
issn 1687-9740
1687-9759
language English
publishDate 2020-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series International Journal of Pediatrics
spelling doaj-art-ecb09f7f3e8d4e719ce56c25342b623b2025-08-20T02:21:47ZengWileyInternational Journal of Pediatrics1687-97401687-97592020-01-01202010.1155/2020/58495485849548Nutritional Status of Children and Its Associated Factors in Selected Earthquake-Affected VDCs of Gorkha District, NepalAsmita Shrestha0Chet Kant Bhusal1Binjwala Shrestha2Kiran Dev Bhattarai3Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, Maharajgunj Medical Campus, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, NepalDepartment of Community Medicine, Universal College of Medical Science and Teaching Hospital, Tribhuvan University, Bhairahawa, Rupandehi, NepalDepartment of Community Medicine and Public Health, Maharajgunj Medical Campus, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, NepalDepartment of Community Medicine and Public Health, Maharajgunj Medical Campus, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, NepalBackground. Malnutrition is a major public health problem and most enveloping cause of morbidity and mortality among children and adolescents throughout the world. This study was aimed at assessing the nutritional status and associated factors among 6-10-year-old children in selected earthquake-affected areas of Gorkha district, Nepal. Methods. A community-based cross-sectional study among 420 mothers having children of age groups 6-10 years (with anthropometric measurement among children) was conducted using a mixed method in selected earthquake-affected areas of Gorkha district, Nepal, from October 2015 to April 2016. Gorkha was selected purposively from 14 earthquake-affected districts. Two village development committees were selected randomly among 6 having severe impact. Randomly, 5 wards were selected from each of the 2 village development committees. As the sample was 420, 42 children were selected randomly from every ward. Result. Among the 420 children, 31.9% were underweight, 51.9% were stunted, and 2.9% were wasted after the earthquake. Children who were more prone to being underweight were the following: male children (RR=1.34 95% CI: 1.01-1.78) and children from illiterate mothers (RR=2.49, 95% CI: 1.85-3.36), illiterate fathers (RR=1.73, 95% CI: 1.32-2.27), and homemaker mothers (RR=0.28, 95% CI: 0.20-0.38); children whose families were using nonimproved sources of water (RR=2.60, 95% CI: 1.07-6.60); and households having food insecurity (RR=12.97, 95% CI: 3.29-51.18). Similarly, children of illiterate fathers (RR=1.67, 95% CI: 1.41-1.97), children of illiterate mothers (RR=2.32, 95% CI: 1.91-2.83), children of homemaker mothers (RR=0.59, 95% CI: 0.49-0.70), children whose family were using treated water (RR=0.32, 95% CI: 0.15-0.67), and children from food insecure households (RR=10.52, CI: 4.05-27.33) were found to be stunted. After adjustment, children from households consuming nonimproved water were 6 times more likely (OR=6.75; 95% CI: 1.59-28.62) to be wasted. Conclusion. Illiterate mothers, illiterate fathers, mothers engaged in occupation other than household work, and food insecure households were found to be independent predictors of underweight and stunting. Nonimproved source of drinking water was found to be independent predictors of wasting.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/5849548
spellingShingle Asmita Shrestha
Chet Kant Bhusal
Binjwala Shrestha
Kiran Dev Bhattarai
Nutritional Status of Children and Its Associated Factors in Selected Earthquake-Affected VDCs of Gorkha District, Nepal
International Journal of Pediatrics
title Nutritional Status of Children and Its Associated Factors in Selected Earthquake-Affected VDCs of Gorkha District, Nepal
title_full Nutritional Status of Children and Its Associated Factors in Selected Earthquake-Affected VDCs of Gorkha District, Nepal
title_fullStr Nutritional Status of Children and Its Associated Factors in Selected Earthquake-Affected VDCs of Gorkha District, Nepal
title_full_unstemmed Nutritional Status of Children and Its Associated Factors in Selected Earthquake-Affected VDCs of Gorkha District, Nepal
title_short Nutritional Status of Children and Its Associated Factors in Selected Earthquake-Affected VDCs of Gorkha District, Nepal
title_sort nutritional status of children and its associated factors in selected earthquake affected vdcs of gorkha district nepal
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/5849548
work_keys_str_mv AT asmitashrestha nutritionalstatusofchildrenanditsassociatedfactorsinselectedearthquakeaffectedvdcsofgorkhadistrictnepal
AT chetkantbhusal nutritionalstatusofchildrenanditsassociatedfactorsinselectedearthquakeaffectedvdcsofgorkhadistrictnepal
AT binjwalashrestha nutritionalstatusofchildrenanditsassociatedfactorsinselectedearthquakeaffectedvdcsofgorkhadistrictnepal
AT kirandevbhattarai nutritionalstatusofchildrenanditsassociatedfactorsinselectedearthquakeaffectedvdcsofgorkhadistrictnepal