Background:
Child under-nutrition is one of the serious public health problems in the
developing world, and tackling the problem requires a thorough understanding
of its causes. The
objective of this study was to identify the predictors for acute c
hild under-nutrition in eastern
rural Ethiopia.
Methods:
An unmatched community based nested case -control study was conducted on
2199
(241 cases and 1958 controls) cohorts of children 6-36 months of age and their m
others from
July/ August, 2010 to January/ February/ 2011. Data were collected usi
ng a pre-tested structured
questionnaire and anthropometric measuring instruments recommended by U
NICEF after
standardization. Odds Ratio with 95% confidence interval was estimate
d to identify determinants
of wasting using multivariable logistic regression.
Results:
Wasting was associated with the households’ socio-economic position; more childr
en in
the poor [AOR (95% CI) = 1.49 (1.02, 2.19)] and in the middle [AOR (95% CI) =
1.52(1.05,
2.19)] households were wasted than those in the rich households. It was
also due to lack of
joint decision - making habit when a child is ill [AOR (95% CI )
= 1.62 (1.19 ,2.19)] , of
maternal access to health facility [AOR (95% CI ) = 1.56 (
1.13, 2.13)] , of enough gap between
births [AOR (95% CI ) = 1.65 (1.23, 2.19)] , and of exclusive breast
feeding habit [AOR
(95% CI ) = 1.43( 1.05, 1.94)].
Conclusions:
wasting was related to the households’ poverty, poor access to health
services,
parents’ ineffective decision – making, narrow birth interval, and poor
exclusively breast
feeding practice. Thus, an organized effort should be made to improve a
ccess to adequate
nutrition and maternal health services, child birth spacing behavior,
exclusive breast feeding
habit, and child care practices of the poor rural population to curb the p
roblems of childhood
under-nutrition.