Research site selection for SI-FMS initiative at Basona Worena woreda

Ethiopia is among the five implementors of this initiative and the implementing team composed of individuals from various CG centres based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has made visited to the agreed project sites in Ethiopia on 30 August 2022. In north Shewa, it was agreed that Basona Worena will be the implementing site of this initiative activities. On this day, SI – MFS initiative implementing team composed of researchers from Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, ICARDA and ILRI has travelled to Debre Birhan area to select research site for integrated research efforts and technology aggregations. The objective of the site selection was to implement research interventions and improve the land, crop, and livestock productivity through sustainable intensification of the mixed farming system (SI-FMS) initiative. The team has discussed with Basona Worena Woreda of Agriculture and livestock offices to identify the specific project implementation kebele. After the purpose of the initiative was discussed site selection criteria was set to select the implementation kebele

Global burden and strength of evidence for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Understanding the health consequences associated with exposure to risk factors is necessary to inform public health policy and practice. To systematically quantify the contributions of risk factor exposures to specific health outcomes, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 aims to provide comprehensive estimates of exposure levels, relative health risks, and attributable burden of disease for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, from 1990 to 2021. Methods: The GBD 2021 risk factor analysis used data from 54 561 total distinct sources to produce epidemiological estimates for 88 risk factors and their associated health outcomes for a total of 631 risk–outcome pairs. Pairs were included on the basis of data-driven determination of a risk–outcome association. Age-sex-location-year-specific estimates were generated at global, regional, and national levels. Our approach followed the comparative risk assessment framework predicated on a causal web of hierarchically organised, potentially combinative, modifiable risks. Relative risks (RRs) of a given outcome occurring as a function of risk factor exposure were estimated separately for each risk–outcome pair, and summary exposure values (SEVs), representing risk-weighted exposure prevalence, and theoretical minimum risk exposure levels (TMRELs) were estimated for each risk factor. These estimates were used to calculate the population attributable fraction (PAF; ie, the proportional change in health risk that would occur if exposure to a risk factor were reduced to the TMREL). The product of PAFs and disease burden associated with a given outcome, measured in disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), yielded measures of attributable burden (ie, the proportion of total disease burden attributable to a particular risk factor or combination of risk factors). Adjustments for mediation were applied to account for relationships involving risk factors that act indirectly on outcomes via intermediate risks. Attributable burden estimates were stratified by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile and presented as counts, age-standardised rates, and rankings. To complement estimates of RR and attributable burden, newly developed burden of proof risk function (BPRF) methods were applied to yield supplementary, conservative interpretations of risk–outcome associations based on the consistency of underlying evidence, accounting for unexplained heterogeneity between input data from different studies. Estimates reported represent the mean value across 500 draws from the estimate's distribution, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) calculated as the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile values across the draws. Findings: Among the specific risk factors analysed for this study, particulate matter air pollution was the leading contributor to the global disease burden in 2021, contributing 8·0% (95% UI 6·7–9·4) of total DALYs, followed by high systolic blood pressure (SBP; 7·8% [6·4–9·2]), smoking (5·7% [4·7–6·8]), low birthweight and short gestation (5·6% [4·8–6·3]), and high fasting plasma glucose (FPG; 5·4% [4·8–6·0]). For younger demographics (ie, those aged 0–4 years and 5–14 years), risks such as low birthweight and short gestation and unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing (WaSH) were among the leading risk factors, while for older age groups, metabolic risks such as high SBP, high body-mass index (BMI), high FPG, and high LDL cholesterol had a greater impact. From 2000 to 2021, there was an observable shift in global health challenges, marked by a decline in the number of all-age DALYs broadly attributable to behavioural risks (decrease of 20·7% [13·9–27·7]) and environmental and occupational risks (decrease of 22·0% [15·5–28·8]), coupled with a 49·4% (42·3–56·9) increase in DALYs attributable to metabolic risks, all reflecting ageing populations and changing lifestyles on a global scale. Age-standardised global DALY rates attributable to high BMI and high FPG rose considerably (15·7% [9·9–21·7] for high BMI and 7·9% [3·3–12·9] for high FPG) over this period, with exposure to these risks increasing annually at rates of 1·8% (1·6–1·9) for high BMI and 1·3% (1·1–1·5) for high FPG. By contrast, the global risk-attributable burden and exposure to many other risk factors declined, notably for risks such as child growth failure and unsafe water source, with age-standardised attributable DALYs decreasing by 71·5% (64·4–78·8) for child growth failure and 66·3% (60·2–72·0) for unsafe water source. We separated risk factors into three groups according to trajectory over time: those with a decreasing attributable burden, due largely to declining risk exposure (eg, diet high in trans-fat and household air pollution) but also to proportionally smaller child and youth populations (eg, child and maternal malnutrition); those for which the burden increased moderately in spite of declining risk exposure, due largely to population ageing (eg, smoking); and those for which the burden increased considerably due to both increasing risk exposure and population ageing (eg, ambient particulate matter air pollution, high BMI, high FPG, and high SBP). Interpretation: Substantial progress has been made in reducing the global disease burden attributable to a range of risk factors, particularly those related to maternal and child health, WaSH, and household air pollution. Maintaining efforts to minimise the impact of these risk factors, especially in low SDI locations, is necessary to sustain progress. Successes in moderating the smoking-related burden by reducing risk exposure highlight the need to advance policies that reduce exposure to other leading risk factors such as ambient particulate matter air pollution and high SBP. Troubling increases in high FPG, high BMI, and other risk factors related to obesity and metabolic syndrome indicate an urgent need to identify and implement interventions

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Global burden and strength of evidence for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Understanding the health consequences associated with exposure to risk factors is necessary to inform public health policy and practice. To systematically quantify the contributions of risk factor exposures to specific health outcomes, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 aims to provide comprehensive estimates of exposure levels, relative health risks, and attributable burden of disease for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, from 1990 to 2021. Methods: The GBD 2021 risk factor analysis used data from 54 561 total distinct sources to produce epidemiological estimates for 88 risk factors and their associated health outcomes for a total of 631 risk–outcome pairs. Pairs were included on the basis of data-driven determination of a risk–outcome association. Age-sex-location-year-specific estimates were generated at global, regional, and national levels. Our approach followed the comparative risk assessment framework predicated on a causal web of hierarchically organised, potentially combinative, modifiable risks. Relative risks (RRs) of a given outcome occurring as a function of risk factor exposure were estimated separately for each risk–outcome pair, and summary exposure values (SEVs), representing risk-weighted exposure prevalence, and theoretical minimum risk exposure levels (TMRELs) were estimated for each risk factor. These estimates were used to calculate the population attributable fraction (PAF; ie, the proportional change in health risk that would occur if exposure to a risk factor were reduced to the TMREL). The product of PAFs and disease burden associated with a given outcome, measured in disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), yielded measures of attributable burden (ie, the proportion of total disease burden attributable to a particular risk factor or combination of risk factors). Adjustments for mediation were applied to account for relationships involving risk factors that act indirectly on outcomes via intermediate risks. Attributable burden estimates were stratified by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile and presented as counts, age-standardised rates, and rankings. To complement estimates of RR and attributable burden, newly developed burden of proof risk function (BPRF) methods were applied to yield supplementary, conservative interpretations of risk–outcome associations based on the consistency of underlying evidence, accounting for unexplained heterogeneity between input data from different studies. Estimates reported represent the mean value across 500 draws from the estimate's distribution, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) calculated as the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile values across the draws. Findings: Among the specific risk factors analysed for this study, particulate matter air pollution was the leading contributor to the global disease burden in 2021, contributing 8·0% (95% UI 6·7–9·4) of total DALYs, followed by high systolic blood pressure (SBP; 7·8% [6·4–9·2]), smoking (5·7% [4·7–6·8]), low birthweight and short gestation (5·6% [4·8–6·3]), and high fasting plasma glucose (FPG; 5·4% [4·8–6·0]). For younger demographics (ie, those aged 0–4 years and 5–14 years), risks such as low birthweight and short gestation and unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing (WaSH) were among the leading risk factors, while for older age groups, metabolic risks such as high SBP, high body-mass index (BMI), high FPG, and high LDL cholesterol had a greater impact. From 2000 to 2021, there was an observable shift in global health challenges, marked by a decline in the number of all-age DALYs broadly attributable to behavioural risks (decrease of 20·7% [13·9–27·7]) and environmental and occupational risks (decrease of 22·0% [15·5–28·8]), coupled with a 49·4% (42·3–56·9) increase in DALYs attributable to metabolic risks, all reflecting ageing populations and changing lifestyles on a global scale. Age-standardised global DALY rates attributable to high BMI and high FPG rose considerably (15·7% [9·9–21·7] for high BMI and 7·9% [3·3–12·9] for high FPG) over this period, with exposure to these risks increasing annually at rates of 1·8% (1·6–1·9) for high BMI and 1·3% (1·1–1·5) for high FPG. By contrast, the global risk-attributable burden and exposure to many other risk factors declined, notably for risks such as child growth failure and unsafe water source, with age-standardised attributable DALYs decreasing by 71·5% (64·4–78·8) for child growth failure and 66·3% (60·2–72·0) for unsafe water source. We separated risk factors into three groups according to trajectory over time: those with a decreasing attributable burden, due largely to declining risk exposure (eg, diet high in trans-fat and household air pollution) but also to proportionally smaller child and youth populations (eg, child and maternal malnutrition); those for which the burden increased moderately in spite of declining risk exposure, due largely to population ageing (eg, smoking); and those for which the burden increased considerably due to both increasing risk exposure and population ageing (eg, ambient particulate matter air pollution, high BMI, high FPG, and high SBP). Interpretation: Substantial progress has been made in reducing the global disease burden attributable to a range of risk factors, particularly those related to maternal and child health, WaSH, and household air pollution. Maintaining efforts to minimise the impact of these risk factors, especially in low SDI locations, is necessary to sustain progress. Successes in moderating the smoking-related burden by reducing risk exposure highlight the need to advance policies that reduce exposure to other leading risk factors such as ambient particulate matter air pollution and high SBP. Troubling increases in high FPG, high BMI, and other risk factors related to obesity and metabolic syndrome indicate an urgent need to identify and implement interventions. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Clinical Characteristics and in-Hospital Mortality in Patients with Acute Heart Failure at Dessie Referral Hospital, Northeast Ethiopia

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death globally. An estimated 17.9 million people died from CVDs in 2019, representing 32% of all global deaths. Of these deaths, 85% were due to heart attack and stroke. Acute heart failure (AHF) is one of the most common diseases in emergency department and associated with a poor prognosis and high mortality rate. This study is aimed to assess the mortality rate of AHF patients at Dessie Referral Hospital. A retrospective cross-sectional study design was employed. All adult patients with a diagnosis of AHF who were admitted during the period January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 were included. Data was abstracted from the medical records by trained data collectors. Bivariate and multivariate analyses logistic regression analysis was carried out to assess the association between dependent and all the independent variables. In the study, a total of 96 acute heart failure patients participated. 49 (51 %) were females. The mean age was 52.5 (SD= ±20.28) years. Two third of patients (62, 64.6%) were newly diagnosed AHF patients. The mean length of hospital stay was 5.13 days (SD = ±3.92). Acute pulmonary congestion (86, 89.58%), orthopnea (78, 81.25%) and peripheral edema (64, 66.67%) were the most common clinical presentations. The most common prior medical conditions were Myocardial infarction (19, 19.8%) and valvular heart disease (8, 8.3%). Loop diuretics were the most commonly used drugs (87, 90.63%) during admission. In-hospital mortality was found to be 22.9%. We concluded that the in-hospital mortality was very high for acute heart failure patients at Dessie referral Hospital.&nbsp

Treatment Outcomes of Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome Admitted to Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) refers to a spectrum of conditions compatible with acute myocardial ischemia and/or infarction that are usually due to an abrupt reduction in coronary blood flow. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the treatment outcome and associated factors for ACS. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2014. Results: Of 124 ACS patients who were admitted during the 3 years’ period, 90 (72.6%) were diagnosed with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The mean age was 56.3 ± 13.7 years. The average length of hospital stay was 9.77 ± 6.42 days. The average time from onset of ACS symptoms to presentation in the emergency department was 3.8 days (91.7 hours). In about 76 (61.3%) patients, hypertension was the leading risk factor for development of ACS, and 36.4% of ACS patients were either Killip class III or IV. Biomarkers were measured for 118 (95.2%) patients, and 79.2% of patients had ejection fraction of less than 40% and 29.2% had less than 30%. In-hospital medication use includes loading dose of aspirin (79%), anticoagulants (77.4%), beta blockers (88.1%), statins (85.5%), morphine (12.9%), and nitrates (35.5%). The in-hospital mortality was 27.4%. The predictors for in-hospital mortality were age ( P  = .042), time from symptom onset to presentation ( P  = .001), previous history of hypertension ( P  = .025), being Killip class III and IV ( P  = .001), and STEMI diagnosis ( P  = .005). Conclusions: The medical management of ACS patients in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH) was in line with the recommendations of international guidelines but in-hospital mortality was extremely high (27.4%)

Knowledge, Practice, and Associated Factors of Home-Based Management of Diarrhea among Caregivers of Children Attending Under-Five Clinic in Fagita Lekoma District, Awi Zone, Amhara Regional State, Northwest Ethiopia, 2016

Introduction. In Ethiopia, it is the second cause for clinical presentation among under five-year child population. Objective. The main aim of this study was to assess knowledge, practice, and associated factors of home-based management of diarrhea among caregivers of children attending the under-five clinic. Methods. Institution based quantitative cross-sectional study was carried out from March 1, 2016, to April 22, 2016. Results. Two hundred eight (56.2%) of them had good knowledge and one hundred thirty-nine (37.6%) of them had the good practice of home management of diarrhea, specifically, primary education (AOR: 5.384, 95% CI: 2.008, 14.438), secondary and above education (AOR: 11.769, 95% CI: 3.527, 39.275), daily laborer (AOR: 0.208, 95% CI: 0.054, 0.810), and no information about diarrhea (AOR: 0.139, 95% CI: 0.054, 0.354). Moreover, age range of 25–35 (AOR: 4.091, 95% CI: 1.741, 9.616) and 36–45 (AOR: 3.639, 95% CI: 1.155, 11.460), being single (AOR: 0.111, 95% CI: 0.013, 0.938), being divorced (AOR: 0.120, 95% CI: 0.024, 0.598), illiteracy (AOR: 0.052, 95% CI: 0.017, 0.518), primary education (AOR: 0.143, CI: 0.046, 0.440), and no information about diarrhea (AOR: 0.197, 95% CI: 0.057, 0.685) were significantly associated variables with the outcome variables in multivariate regression. Conclusion. Caregivers had slightly adequate knowledge but poor practice

Knowledge, Practice, and Associated Factors of Home-Based Management of Diarrhea among Caregivers of Children Attending Under-Five Clinic in Fagita Lekoma District, Awi Zone, Amhara Regional State, Northwest Ethiopia, 2016

Introduction. In Ethiopia, it is the second cause for clinical presentation among under five-year child population. Objective. The main aim of this study was to assess knowledge, practice, and associated factors of home-based management of diarrhea among caregivers of children attending the under-five clinic. Methods. Institution based quantitative cross-sectional study was carried out from March 1, 2016, to April 22, 2016. Results. Two hundred eight (56.2%) of them had good knowledge and one hundred thirty-nine (37.6%) of them had the good practice of home management of diarrhea, specifically, primary education (AOR: 5.384, 95% CI: 2.008, 14.438), secondary and above education (AOR: 11.769, 95% CI: 3.527, 39.275), daily laborer (AOR: 0.208, 95% CI: 0.054, 0.810), and no information about diarrhea (AOR: 0.139, 95% CI: 0.054, 0.354). Moreover, age range of 25–35 (AOR: 4.091, 95% CI: 1.741, 9.616) and 36–45 (AOR: 3.639, 95% CI: 1.155, 11.460), being single (AOR: 0.111, 95% CI: 0.013, 0.938), being divorced (AOR: 0.120, 95% CI: 0.024, 0.598), illiteracy (AOR: 0.052, 95% CI: 0.017, 0.518), primary education (AOR: 0.143, CI: 0.046, 0.440), and no information about diarrhea (AOR: 0.197, 95% CI: 0.057, 0.685) were significantly associated variables with the outcome variables in multivariate regression. Conclusion. Caregivers had slightly adequate knowledge but poor practice

Stunting at birth and associated factors among newborns delivered at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Referral Hospital.

BackgroundStunting at birth is a chronic form of undernutrition majorly attributable to poor prenatal nutrition, which could persist in children's later life and impact their physical and cognitive health. Although multiple studies have been conducted in Ethiopia to show the magnitude of stunting and factors, all are concentrated on children aged between 6 to 59 months. Therefore, this study was done to determine the prevalence and associated factors of stunting at birth among newborns delivered at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Referral Hospital, Northwest, Ethiopia.MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from February 26th to April 25th/2020. A systematic random sampling technique was used, to select a total of 422 newborn-mother pairs. The binary logistic regression was employed to identify factors associated with stunting and all independent variables were entered into the multivariable logistic regression model to adjust for confounders. Variables that had significant association were identified based on p-value ResultsAbout 30.5% (95% CI: 26.3%, 35.1%) of newborns were stunted at birth. Being male [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.9(1.62, 5.21)], newborns conceived in Kiremt(rainy season) [AOR = 2.7(1.49, 4.97)], being low birth weight [AOR = 3.1(1.64, 6.06)] were factors associated with stunting at birth. Likewise, newborns born to short stature mothers [AOR = 2.8(1.21, 6.62)] and chronically malnourished mothers [AOR = 15.3(8.12, 29.1)] were at greater risk of being stunted.ConclusionJust under a third of newborns are stunted at birth, implying a pressing public health problem. Newborns born to chronically malnourished and short stature mothers were more stunted. Besides, stunting was prevalently observed among male neonates, newborns conceived in Kiremet, and being low birth weight. Thus, policymakers and nutrition programmers should work on preventing maternal undernutrition through nutrition education to reduce the burden of low birth weight and stunting. Further, paying due attention to newborns conceived in Kiremet season to improve nutritional status is recommended