The Prevalence and Determinants of Stunting among Children 6 - 59 Months of Age in One of the Sub-Counties in the Rwenzori Sub-Region, Western Uganda
Introduction: Despite being referred to as one of the country’s “food baskets”, 41% of children, 6 - 59 months of age in the Rwenzori sub-region, Western Uganda are stunted. Stunting is a form of chronic malnutrition in which children are short for their age. In this study, we established the pre...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
Scientific Research Publishing
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12493/440 |
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| Summary: | Introduction: Despite being referred to as one of the country’s “food
baskets”, 41% of children, 6 - 59 months of age in the Rwenzori sub-region,
Western Uganda are stunted. Stunting is a form of chronic malnutrition in
which children are short for their age. In this study, we established the prevalence
and determinants of stunting in one of the sub-counties in this region.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in one of
the sub-counties in the Rwenzori sub-region, Western Uganda from May 26th
to June 26th, 2018. A total of 372 mothers and their children were recruited
using systematic sampling. Data was collected using a questionnaire. Stunting
was determined by taking child’s height or length and comparing it with
child’s age. A child whose height or length for age index was less than −2
Standard Deviations (SD) was considered stunted. We used descriptive statistics
to understand characteristics of mothers and multivariable logistic regression
model to obtain the determinants of stunting. Data was analyzed
using SPSS version 20. Results: A total of 372 mothers and their children
were included in this study; majority, 307 (83.0%) of the children were 6 - 24
months old and nearly half, 167 (44.9%) were stunted. We found that reserving
food stock for use in the dry season (aOR = 0.23, CI = 0.08 - 0.62, p =
0.004), deworming children (aOR = 0.32, CI = 0.18 - 0.54, p = 0.001) and the
family earning at least 10,000 Ushs (2.7USD) at the end of the month (aOR =
0.36, CI = 0.22 - 0.58, P = 0.001) were associated with no stunting. Conclusions:
We found a high prevalence of stunting among children 6 - 59 months
of age. We recommend enforcing ownership of food granary by households
especially during dry season, support to de-worming programs targeting
children below five years of age and establishing community based income
generating livelihood projects. |
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