Child undernutrition and associated factors among children 6-23 months old in largely food insecure areas of rural Ethiopia.

Child malnutrition is the leading public health problem in Sub-Saharan Africa, resulting in poor health and economic losses. Ethiopia has one of the highest child undernutrition rates in the world that occurs to multifaceted factors, including food insecurity. Thus, we performed a cross-sectional study to assess the prevalence and risk factors for child undernutrition in largely food insecure areas of Ethiopia. Data were collected from 354 mother-child pairs from the Siraro district. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used for statistical analysis. Variables with a P-value of <0⋅05 in multivariate analysis were used to detect statistical significance at a 95 % confidence level. About 67 % of households are food insecure. The prevalence of stunting wasting and underweight were 42⋅7, 9⋅9 and 27⋅7 %, respectively. Female gender, higher age of the child (12-23 months v. 6-11 months), living in a household with five or more siblings, not getting therapeutic zinc supplement at least once, inadequate diet diversity, lack of growth monitoring service, and maternal own income increases the likelihood of child undernutrition. It can be concluded that child undernutrition is a severe public health problem in the study area. Improving primary healthcare services related to zinc supplementation, growth monitoring and promotion, and improving infant and child feeding practices can be considered as a strategy to address the problem.

Determinants of exclusive breastfeeding in infants less than six months of age in Hawassa, an urban setting, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first six months of life. However, the proportion of EBF in Ethiopia is 58%. The EBF practice and factors affecting it have not been studied in Hawassa, Southern Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and determinants of EBF practice among infants less than six months age in Hawassa city, Ethiopia. METHODS: A total of 529 mothers with infants aged 0-6 months were involved in this study between November 2015 and January 2016. Trained interviewers collected data from the mothers of the infants. Exclusive breastfeeding was assessed based on infant feeding practice in the prior 24 h. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Infants aged 0-5.9 months were studied with comparable gender composition (51.4% females). The exclusive breastfeeding prevalence was 60.9% (95% CI 56.6, 65.1). Mothers with infants aged 0-1.9 months and 2-3.9 months practiced EBF more likely than mothers with infants aged 4-6 months (Adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 3.59; 95% CI 2.07, 6.2) and (AOR 2.08; 95% CI 1.23, 3.5), respectively. Married mothers practiced EBF more likely than singles (AOR 2.04; 95% CI 1.03, 4.06). Housewives practiced EBF more likely than employed mothers (AOR 2.57; 95% CI 1.34, 4.9). Mothers who had a vaginal birth were more likely to practice EBF than mothers who gave birth via Cesarean section (AOR 2.8; 95% CI 1.7, 4.6). Mothers who gave birth at a healthcare facility were more likely to practice EBF than mothers who gave birth at home (AOR 8.8; 95% CI 5.04, 15.4). Mothers without a breast complication practiced exclusive breastfeeding more than mothers with breast complications (AOR 2.05; 95% CI 1.5, 4.1). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed a low prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding. Younger infants, babies born to married women, who are housewives, having a vaginal birth in a health facility, and whose mother's breasts were healthy, were predictors for EBF. The promotion of an institutional delivery, optimal breastfeeding practices, and designing strategies to better support employed mothers are recommended.