Prevalence and associated factors of malnutrition among children under-five years in Sindh, Pakistan: a cross-sectional study

Objectives: This study assessed the prevalence and associated factors of pneumonia among children under-five years presenting with acute respiratory symptoms. Methodology: This was a cross sectional study at the Pediatric Department of Kampala International University – Teaching Hospital, from the month of April to August 2019. The study included 336 children aged 2 to 59 months presenting with acute respiratory symptoms to the pediatric clinic. Pneumonia diagnosis was made according to the World Health Organization definition, modified by a chest radiograph. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data on socio-demographic, environmental and nutrition factors and multivariate logistic regression analysis using STATA version 13.0 was done to assess for the factors independently associated with pneumonia. Results: Of the 336 children with acute respiratory symptoms, eighty-six, 86 (25.6%) had pneumonia. Factors significantly associated with pneumonia included: age below 6 months (OR=3.2, 95%CI=1.17-8.51, p=0.023), rural residence (OR=5.7, 95%CI=2.97-11.05, p <0.001), not up-to-date for age immunization status (OR=2.9, 95%CI=1.05-7.98, p=0.039), severe acute malnutrition (OR=10.8, 95%CI=2.01-58.41, p=0.006), lack of exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months (OR=2.9, 95%CI=1.53-5.53, p=0.001) and exposure to cigarette smoke (OR=3.0, 95%CI=1.35-6.80, p=0.007). Conclusion: The prevalence of pneumonia in children under-five years was high. Most of the factors associated with pneumonia are modifiable; addressing these factors could reduce this prevalence. Keywords: Pneumonia; prevalence; under-fives.

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The Prevalence of Stunting and Associated Factors among Children Under Five years of age in Southern Ethiopia: Community Based Cross-Sectional Study

Annals of Global Health ◽

10.5334/aogh.3432 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 87 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Asres Mengesha ◽

Samrawit Hailu ◽

Mahlet Birhane ◽

Moges Mareg Belay

Keyword(s):

Associated Factors ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Southern Ethiopia ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Community Based ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Children Under Five ◽

Under Five

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Predictors of Parental Barriers to Reduce Excessive Child’s Screen Time Among Parents of Children Under Five Years of Age in Selangor: A Cross-Sectional Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.25219 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Elliza Mansor ◽

Norliza Ahmad ◽

Nor Afiah Mohd. Zulkefli

Keyword(s):

Young Children ◽

Screen Time ◽

Parental Attitudes ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Parental Attitude ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Children Under Five ◽

Under Five ◽

Parental Barriers

BACKGROUND Globally, there is an increasing prevalence of excessive screen time exposure among young children, including Malaysia. Parents are advised to limit this exposure but there are barriers for many of them to follow this recommendation. To date, there is a lack of studies on the factors that cause these parental barriers. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine the parental barrier towards the reduction of excessive child’s screen time and its predictors among parents of children under five years old in Petaling District, Selangor. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2019 to June 2020 among 789 parent-child dyads attending child health clinics in Petaling District, Selangor. Validated self-administered questionnaires were used to capture information on sociodemographic factors, parental influences, child-related factors, environmental factors, and parental barriers. Stratified sampling with probability proportionate to size was employed. Data were analysed with IBM SPSS version 25. Descriptive analysis and bivariate analysis were performed before multiple linear regression was used to identify the predictors of parental barriers. RESULTS The overall mean score of parental barriers was 3.51 ± 0.83, indicating that the average numbers of barriers experienced by parents were more than three. The multivariate analysis showed that the predictors of parental barriers included monthly household income (adjusted β: -0.031, 95% CI: -0.048 to -0.015), parents who worked in public sectors (adjusted β: 0.178, 95% CI: 0.063 to 0.292), positive parental attitude on screens (adjusted β: 0.684, 95% CI: 0.576 to 0.793), parents’ low self-efficacy to influence child’s physical activity (adjusted β: -0.318, 95% CI: -0.432 to -0.204), and child’s screen time (adjusted β: 0.042, 95% CI: 0.024 to 0.061). CONCLUSIONS The strongest predictor of the parental barriers to reduce excessive child’s screen time was the positive parental attitude on screen time. Thus, future intervention strategies should aim to foster correct parental attitudes towards screen time activities among young children.

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Prevalence and associated factors of diarrhea among under-five children in Debre Berhan Town, Ethiopia 2018: A cross sectional study

10.21203/rs.2.13141/v3 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sisay Shine ◽

Sindew Muhamud ◽

Solomon Adnew ◽

Alebachew Demelash ◽

Makda Abate

Keyword(s):

Low Income ◽

Odds Ratio ◽

Adjusted Odds Ratio ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Major Public Health Problem ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Children Under Five ◽

Under Five ◽

Debre Berhan

Abstract Background: Diarrhea is responsible for 525,000 children under-five deaths and 1.7 billion cases globally and is the second leading cause of death among children under-five every year. It is a major public health problem in low income countries like Ethiopia. The main aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of diarrhea and associated risk factors among children under-five in Debre Berhan Town, Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 420 parent or caretaker/children pairs in Debre Berhan town between 13–18 April 2018. A multi-stage sampling strategy was used to select the study participants. Data were collected using pre-tested and structured questionnaires. Data were entered in Epi-info computer software version 3.5.1 and exported to SPSS Window Version-16 for analysis. Adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals were used to assess the level of significance. Results: The two week prevalence of diarrhea among children under-five was 16.4% (69/351). Children aged 7-11 months (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 4.2, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.2 - 15.3), being the second-born child (AOR: 3.9, 95%CI: 1.8 - 8.5), not vaccinated against rotavirus (AOR: 10.3, 95%CI: 3.2 - 91.3) and feeding children by hand (AOR: 2.5, 95%CI: 1.1 - 6.1) were significant predictors of diarrhea. Conclusions: This study revealed that the two weeks period prevalence of diarrhea among children under-five years was 16.4%. Education programs on the importance of vaccination against rotavirus, increasing breast feeding frequency with complementary food after six months and the critical points of hand washing are recommended.

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Persistent Malnutrition and Associated Factors among Children under Five Years Attending Primary Health Care Facilities in Limpopo Province, South Africa

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17207580 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (20) ◽

pp. 7580

Author(s):

Perpetua Modjadji ◽

Josephine Mashishi

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Birth Weight ◽

Associated Factors ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Health Care Facilities ◽

School Education ◽

Limpopo Province ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Children Under Five ◽

Under Five

Despite years of interventions intended to reduce child malnutrition in South Africa, its negative effects, stunting in particular, persist mainly among children under five years old living in under-resourced regions. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and associated factors among 404 children under age five attending childcare services with their mothers in selected healthcare facilities of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Anthropometry, socio-demographics and obstetric history were collected. Height-for-age, weight-for-age and body mass index-for-age Z-scores were used to determine stunting, underweight and thinness among children, respectively. Logistic regression analyses were performed to generate the factors associated with malnutrition. Stunting (45.3%) was the prevalent form of malnutrition among children under age five, affecting boys (51.7%) more than girls (38.8%) and children aged 12–23 months (62.4%) more than those <11 months old (40.1%), in addition to the overall prevalence of underweight (29.0%) and thinness (12.6%). Boys had increased odds of stunting (adjusted odds ratio, AOR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.26–3.41, p = 0.004) and underweight (AOR = 2.17, 95% CI: 1.32–3.57, p = 0.002) than girls. Children aged 12–23 months were more likely to be stunted (AOR = 4.79, 95% CI: 2.36–9.75, p ≤ 0.0001) than children aged ≤11 months. Delayed introduction of solid foods increased the odds of stunting (AOR = 5.77, 95% CI: 2.63–12.64, p ≤ 0.0001) and underweight (AOR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.08–3.89, p = 0.028). Children with normal birth weight were less likely to be thin (AOR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.19–0.92, p = 0.029) and underweight (AOR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.17–0.68, p = 0.003) than children who had low birth weight. Children whose mothers had obtained secondary school education (AOR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.16–0.97, p = 0.044), and Grade 12 or post-Grade 12 education (AOR = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.12–0.83, p = 0.020) were less likely to be stunted than were children of mothers who had only primary school education. Suboptimal complementary feeding predisposed children to stunting and underweight. National nutrition programs should be context-specific to improve the introduction of complementary foods among children, especially in the remote and poor areas.

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