ABSTRACT

Background: As of many developing countries, malnutrition is one of the most important health problems among infants and young children in Ethiopia. Inadequate and/or inappropriate dietary intake is the immediate/direct causes. Although the nutritional status of children has already been studied in the countries, region specific studies are scarce in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess less than two children nutritional status and associated factors in Wondogenet District, Sidama region, Ethiopia, 2024.

Method and material: - A community based cross-sectional study design was employed on 504 participants selected by multistage sampling technique from August 1, up to 30/ 2024 G.C. The data was collected using structured face-to-face interviewer administered questionnaire. The data was entered into Epi data and analyzed by SPSS version 26. Bivariate and multivariate multinomial Logistic regression analysis was done to identify factors associated with nutritional status.  Descriptive statistics like mean with standard deviation and/or median and frequency and percentage for categorical variables was used. The result of the final model will be expressed in terms of Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with a 95% Confidence Interval.

Result: - In this study about 46.7% (95%CI of 42.3-51.2) of study participant 6-23 month aged children affected by at least one type of malnutrition. Prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting was found to be 31.6% (95%CI, 27.4-35.7); 17.2% (95%CI, 13.8-20.6) and 13.9% (95%CI, 10.8-17.0) respectively. Children from whose fathers educational level of no formal education (AOR=3.76; (95%CI: 1.62-8.70) and primary level of education (AOR=2.79; (95%CI: 1.10- 7.09), children from mother who had no formal education (AOR=2.75, 95%CI: 1.66-4.56) and children who consumed less than four food group (AOR=2.48, 95%CI: 1.04-5.94) were more likely to be affected by stunting. Mothers no formal education [AOR=3.18; 95%CI: (1.64- 6.16)], father no formal education [AOR=3.72; 95%CI: (1.32- 10.50)] who not met recommended MDD [AOR=2.95; 95%CI (1.60-5.44)], feeding snack [AOR=0.43; 95%CI: (0.22- 0.87)] and being from household with secure food access [AOR=0.47; 95%CI: (0.23-0.96)] were significant determinant of underweight. Children who feed snack between main meals (AOR=0.28; (95%CI: 0.12-0.69) and feed by using infant formula (AOR=0.45; (95%CI: 0.21-0.95) were less likely wasted compared to their counterpart.

Keywords: Nutritional status, Dietary Diversity, under two children

TEREZA OCHE