Abstract
AbstractINTRODUCTIONWorld Health Organization (WHO), defines wasting as a child’s weight-for-height z-score (WHZ) below minus 2 SD of the Child’s Growth Standards. In Cambodia, the prevalence of wasting among children under five years old increased from 8% in 2005 to 10% in 2014. The WHO divided food into seven categories, including staple foods, legumes, milk, meat, eggs, fruits, and vegetables. It was advised to consume at least four of these categories daily. According to data from the 2014 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS), 48% of kids between the ages of six and 23 months consumed at least four food groups. We aimed to identify the association between feeding practices consumption and wasting in Cambodian children aged 6-23 months.METHODSWe used existing children’s data from CDHS 2014, two-stage stratified cluster sampling approach to select samples. Data analysis was done by using STATA V16 Survey weights were applied to account for the complex survey design of the CDHS. Descriptive statistics were estimated for key children characteristics, maternal, and household characteristics, geographical regions, and feeding practice consumption. We ran bivariate and multiple logistic regressions to assess the association between wasting and feeding practices consumption in children aged 6-23 months.RESULTSA total of 1,415 children aged 6–23 months were eligible for the study. This study did not find an association between wasting and feeding practices consumption. In contrast, children aged 9–11 months had 2.3 times of wasting [AOR = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.0–5.0] compared to children aged 6–8 months. When compared to mothers aged 15–19 years, children born from mothers aged 20–34 years and 35–49 years were protected from 60% of wasting [AOR = 0.3; 95% CI = 0.2–0.6] and [AOR = 0.3; 95% CI = 0.1–0.7], respectively. When compared to children from better-off households, children from the poorest and poorer wealthiest households wasted twice as much time [AOR = 1.9; 95% CI 1.1-3.5].CONCLUSIONThese findings indicate that feeding practices consumption is not significantly associated with wasting in young children aged 6–23 months in Cambodia. It was found in other studies. Children aged 9–11 months and children from the poorest households were the main predictors of child mortality. However, mothers aged 20–49 years old had decreased odds of wasting. Therefore, it is recommended that interventions and policymakers prioritize promoting diverse food consumption among children in Cambodia. Furthermore, interventions to reduce wasting among children aged 6 to 11 months, children from the lowest household quintile, and children of young mothers should be prioritized.
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Reference33 articles.
1. NIS, N., National Institute of Public Health, National Institute of Statistics [Cambodia] and ORC Macro. 2006. Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey 2005. Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Calverton, Maryland, USA: National Institute of Public Health, National Institute of Statistics and ORC Macro. 2005.
2. WHO Child Growth Standards based on length/height, weight and age;Acta paediatrica,2006
3. UNICEF, Unicef. Malnutrition. New York, NY: Unicef; 2020. Available from:https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/malnutrition/. 2020.
4. NIS, National Institute of Statistics. Directorate General for HC. International ICF. Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey 2014. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: National Institute of Statistics/Cambodia, Directorate General for Health/Cambodia, and ICF International; 2015. 2014.
5. Stunting is associated with food diversity while wasting with food insecurity among underfive children in East and West Gojjam Zones of Amhara Region, Ethiopia;PloS one,2015