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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health and Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1409202
This article is part of the Research Topic X-raying Zero Hunger (SDG2) Targets in Africa and Other Regions: Progress, Synergies, Opportunities, and Challenges Volume II View all 4 articles

Suboptimal Nutritional Status of School-Age Children in Addis Ababa: Evidence from the Analysis of Socioeconomic, Environmental, and Behavioral Factors

Provisionally accepted
Yimer Mihretie Yimer Mihretie *Abebe Ayelign Abebe Ayelign Taddese Zerfu Taddese Zerfu
  • Center for Food Science and Nutrition, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: School-aged children (6-14 years old) are susceptible to malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. Environmental and behavioral factors greatly influence their nutritional status. This study aimed to examine the association between dietary factors and the nutritional status of school-aged children attending public and private schools in Addis Ababa.A community-based cross-sectional study design was employed from March to August 2023. A total of 309 study participants were randomly selected from 10 schools. Data were entered into Epidata version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23.0 for analysis. WHO Anthro Plus 1.0.4 was used to assess the measurements of weight-for-age (WAZ), height-for-age (HAZ), and BMIfor-age (BAZ) for overweight, stunting, and underweight, while wasting was assessed using MUAC. A Poisson regression model was used to determine the association between predictor variables and stunting, wasting, underweight, and overweight, with adjusted prevalence ratios (APR). APR and 95% CI were used to identify statistically significant variables.Results: Findings revealed the prevalence of wasting (15%), stunting (24%), underweight (36%), and overweight (19%) among school-aged children. Factors influencing stunting include marital status, house ownership, education level of parents/caregivers, child sex, and meal skipping.Wasting was linked to wealth index, child age, dietary diversity, dietary habits, water access, and toilet facilities. Underweight predictors include parent/caregiver age, marital status, and meal frequency. Moreover, school type appeared as a significant factor for overweight.The overall nutritional status of school-aged children is suboptimal, influenced by sociodemographic, environmental, and behavioral factors. Addressing these factors through targeted interventions is crucial, particularly for the most vulnerable groups.

    Keywords: Addis Ababa, dietary factors, Nutritional Status, School-age children, Socio - economic status

    Received: 05 Apr 2024; Accepted: 11 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mihretie, Ayelign and Zerfu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yimer Mihretie, Center for Food Science and Nutrition, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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