Prevalence of Stunting and Its Associated Factors among Children of 6–59 Months in Arba Minch Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (HDSS), Southern Ethiopia: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction. Child stunting, which is a chronic length or height growth deficit, has been a devastating public health problem in developing countries. In Ethiopia, stunting remains severe public health problem. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of stunting and its associated factors among children of 6–59 months. Methods. The community-based cross sectional study was conducted in the Arba Minch Health and Demographic Surveillance Site, Southern Ethiopia. The simple random sampling method was used to recruit 656 mother-child pairs. Height for age Z score was computed using WHO Anthro version 3.2.2 software. Multivariable logistic regression model was fitted, and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) at p value <0.05 was used to determine statistically significant association between predictors and outcome variable. Result. The prevalence of stunting among children of 6–59 months in the study area was 47.9% (95% CI; 44.0–51.7). The likelihood of stunting was significantly higher among children who live in households with medium (AOR 2.20, 95% CI: 1.43–3.37) and poor (AOR 2.87, 95% CI: 1.72–4.81) wealth status. In addition, children who were not exclusively breast fed (AOR 1.55, 95% CI: 1.07–2.24), whose mothers had not participated in decision of major household purchases (AOR 2.27, 95% CI: 1.21–4.26), and whose mothers lacked decision on freedom of mobility (AOR 1.96, 95% CI: 1.05–3.66) were significantly stunted compared with counterparts. Conclusion. Stunting is a severe public health problem in the area. Therefore, efforts should be taken to enhance maternal empowerment, household wealth, and infant and young child feeding practice for reducing stunting among children.