Prevalence of Underweight and its Determinant Factors of under Two Children in a Rural Area of Western Ethiopia

Background: Malnutrition in children is one of the most serious public health problem in Ethiopia and the highest in the world. Therefore, the objective of the study was to measure the prevalence of underweight and to study the selected factors associated with underweight among children under two years of age residing in a rural area of Western Ethiopia.  Methods: A community based cross sectional study was employed from March to April 2014.  A total of 593 mothers of under two children using a pre-tested, structured, interviewer administered questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic factors, maternal characteristics, feeding practices and anthropometric measurement was used to gather data. WHO Anthro software version 2.02, SPSS software version 20 was used to perform descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses.Results: The prevalence of underweight among under two children was 8.9%.  The prevalence of underweight among children under the age of one year was 15.1%. Males (9.7%) were more malnourished than females (8.2%). As compared with children in the age group less than six months, the risk of underweight was about 2.6 times higher for children in age groups over one year (AOR=2.62; 95%CI=1.09, 6.33). Conclusion: The burden of underweight was low and some important determinant factors for underweight were age of child, birth weight, frequency of breastfeeding, health information after delivery and vitamin A-rich fruits/vegetables. Thus, efforts should be made to improve the antenatal care services, emphasis on maternal nutrition and the importance of proper infant and young child feeding practices for reducing malnutrition among under-two children. Key words: Children, Determinant factors, Prevalence, Underweight, West Ethiopi

Emerging Nutritional Problem of Adult Population: Overweight/Obesity and Associated Factors in Addis Ababa City Communities, Ethiopia—A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Background. Obesity is an emerging public health problem in developing countries. There is limited study conducted in Ethiopia to determine the prevalence of obesity and its associated factors among adult population. Therefore, this study aimed at determining the prevalence of overweight/obesity and the associated factors among adults aged 25–64 years in Addis Ababa city community residents, Ethiopia. Methods. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 10, 2017, to May 20, 2017, in Addis Ababa. A total of 512 adults were recruited. A two-stage cluster followed by a systematic random sampling technique was used for sample selection. Data were collected using questionnaires and anthropometric measurements. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% CI was reported to show the strength of association. A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results. A total of 484 adults participated in the study with a response rate of 94.5%. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among study participants was found to be 99 (21.5%) and 14 (2.9%), respectively. Males were 90% less likely to be obese when compared to females (AOR = 0.10 (95% CI: 0.01–0.84)). Illiterate people were 94% less likely to be obese compared to those who were literate people (AOR = 0.06 (95% CI: 0.01–0.44)). Nonhypertensive individuals were 86% less likely to be obese when compared to hypertensive (AOR = 0.14 (95% CI: 0.03–0.69)). Conclusion. The combined prevalence of overweight and obesity was found to be considerably high in Addis Ababa city residents compared to the national figure. Being female, literate, and presence of hypertension are independent predictors of overweight/obesity in the study population. Thus, the concerned bodies should initiate efforts to tackle the newly emerging public health problem of the country and promote healthy lifestyle behaviors in the inhabitants of city settings