Stunting among children below five years old affected 44% in Rwanda and more than
61% in Musanze District in 2012. The main objective was to establish the prevalence of
stunting and its associated factors among children below five years old in Musanze
District of Rwanda.
A cross sectional study was carried out in Musanze District where a multi-cluster
sampling was applied to select 529 children systematically from 30 clusters. Data were
collected using structured questionnaire. SPSS and WHO Anthro computer software were
used for data analysis. A binary logistic regression was used to find out the model of
contributing factors. The level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05.
The prevalence of stunting was found at 41%. An increased risk of stunting was
associated with household headed by female (OR=1.370, P≤0.001), absence of kitchen
garden (OR=1.436, P≤0.001), nonuse of industrial fertilizer (OR=1.228, P≤0.001),
mother aged between 20 and 34 years old (OR=2.036, P≤0.001), less than four times
prenatal consultations (OR=1.477, P≤0.001), children aged 6-23 years old (OR=3.358,
P≤0.001), not exclusively breastfed (OR=2.319, P≤0.001), not continued to breastfeed
(OR=1.507, P≤0.001), low dietary diversity (OR=1.981, P≤0.001), and absence of hand
washing facility (OR=2.742, P≤0.001).
The present study showed that the following factors were found to be reducing risks of
stunting. These are monogamous households (OR=0.430, P≤0.001), high wealth index
(OR=0.478, P≤0.001), education of the mother from primary to the university
(OR=0.256; P≤0.001), (OR=0.356; P≤0.001), (OR=0.357, P≤0.001), (OR=0.124,
P≤0.001), revenue productive activities of the mother such as trading, art craft and
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salaried jobs (OR=0.442, P≤0.001) (OR=0.359, P≤0.001), (OR=0.620, P≤0.001), female
child (OR=0.418, P≤0.001), use of safe water (OR=0.597, P≤0.001), household without
open defecation (OR=0.810, P≤0.001), and no waste lying around (OR=0.287, P≤0.001).
The prevalence of stunting among children below five years old in Musanze District of
Rwanda was 41%. The factors associated with stunting are polygamy, food insecurity,
education and occupation of the mother, poor hygiene, poor care giving and poor feeding
practices. The stakeholders should focus on above mentioned factors to fight against
stunting.