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: Enos Mirembe, Masereka, Arthur, Kiconco, Edson, Katsomyo, Clement, Munguiko
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Scientific Research Publishing 2020
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12493/440
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author Enos Mirembe, Masereka
Arthur, Kiconco
Edson, Katsomyo
Clement, Munguiko
author_facet Enos Mirembe, Masereka
Arthur, Kiconco
Edson, Katsomyo
Clement, Munguiko
author_sort Enos Mirembe, Masereka
collection KAB-DR
description 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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spelling oai:idr.kab.ac.ug:20.500.12493-4402024-01-17T04:43:52Z 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 Enos Mirembe, Masereka Arthur, Kiconco Edson, Katsomyo Clement, Munguiko Determinants, Stunting, Chronic Malnutrition, Children, 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 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. Kabale University 2020-07-09T08:18:31Z 2020-07-09T08:18:31Z 2020 Article Masereka, E.M., Kiconco, A., Katsomyo, E. and Munguiko, C. (2020) 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. Print: 2162-5336, Online: 2162-5344 https://www.scirp.org/journal/ojn http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12493/440 en_US application/pdf Scientific Research Publishing
spellingShingle Determinants, Stunting, Chronic Malnutrition, Children, Western, Uganda
Enos Mirembe, Masereka
Arthur, Kiconco
Edson, Katsomyo
Clement, Munguiko
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
title 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
title_full 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
title_fullStr 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
title_full_unstemmed 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
title_short 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
title_sort 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
topic Determinants, Stunting, Chronic Malnutrition, Children, Western, Uganda
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12493/440
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