Adolescent nutritional status and its association with village-level factors in Tanzania

Community level factors are associated with undernutrition, after adjusting for individual level factors such as age, gender and BMI. While several studies have been conducted to elucidate individual and household level factors which facilitate or hinder optimal nutritional health; very few studies have looked at village level factors as significant predictors of childhood malnutrition. Adolescents from resource constrained villages are often exposed to unhealthy environments, with limited access and availability of healthy foods, clean drinking water, sanitary facilities, and health care services, putting them at risk for poor nutritional health. This study investigates the association between village level factors and undernutrition (BMI for Age < 5th percentile of the WHO/NCHS reference) among a sample of adolescents, ages 10-19 years (n=670) from 28 villages in Kilosa District, Tanzania. We hypothesized that in addition to individual characteristics, community level factors may account for a large proportion of variance in explaining the nutritional status of adolescents in the Kilosa District. Exploring the relationships beyond individual level factors, and investigating possible community level determinants of child nutritional status and the extent at which they influence nutritional health is important for developing specific health and nutrition interventions tailored to the needs of adolescents in low-income communities.