256252 Assessing nutritional status of children ages 0 to 5 years in Debre Markos, Ethiopia and its relation to age, gender, birth order, spacing, feeding and weaning practices

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Katrina Chapman, DO, MPH , School of Health Sciences, Touro University, Vallejo, CA
Abinet Sisay, MD , ebre Markos Referral Hospital, ebre Markos Referral Hospital, Debre Markos, Ethiopia, Debre Markos, Ethiopia
Hannah Demissie, MD , Debre Markos Referral Hospital, Debre Markos Referral Hospital, Debre Markos, Ethiopia, Debre Markos, Ethiopia
Kevin Klapstein, PhD , College of Education and Health Sciences, Touro University, Vallejo, CA
Lucy Thairu , Ss, Ss, Ss, AK, Bahamas
More than half of the world's child mortality is due to undernutrition. Recently, the prevalence of undernourished children has been decreasing in developing countries; however, it has barely changed in sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this study was to assess nutritional status of children ages 0 to 5 years in Debre Markos hospital and health center in Debre Markos, Ethiopia; and to determine its relation to age, gender, birth order and feeding practices. A cross-sectional study was conducted using Nutritional Assessment Questioners. The nutritional status of 239 children, 0 to 5 years of age, who were seen as outpatients in the Debra Markos, Ethiopia were assessed using WHO anthropometric calculator. Statistical tests included Fisher's exact test, chi-square, one-way ANOVA, and linear regression. Multinomial logistic regression model was used to determine the dependence of nutritional status on age, gender, birth order, and feeding practices. Results of the study showed 50.5% (95CI 43.4, 57.6) of boys and girls were chronically undernourished, followed by 17.4% (95CI 12.3-22.4) of children being underweight, and 8.4% (95CI 4.3 to 12.4) being acutely undernourished. Boys in the older, 48-60 age group, had the highest prevalence of all three nutrition indicators: 71.4% (95CI 30.8-100) of were chronically undernourished, 37.5% (95CI 0-77.3) were underweight and 28.6% (95CI 0-69.2) were acutely undernourished. We have found that from all the analyzed factors, that gender, or being a boy has as significant statistical association (p=0.0372) with being chronically undernourished.

Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and prevention
Epidemiology
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Provision of health care to the public
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. To analyze nutritional status of children under the age of five in Debre Markos, Ethiopia 2. To evaluate the nutritional status of children under five and its to age, gender, birth order and feeding practices. 3. To demonstrate that Ethiopian boys under the age of five years have a higher risk of being chronically under-nourished then girls, and as they grow older this risk increases 3. To demonstrate that policy and program planning need to take into account the gender discrepancy in nutritional status in Ethiopian children

Keywords: Nutrition, Gender

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I served as the first author's mentor when she collected data in Ethiopia.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 5018.0: Poster Session: Nutrition