Research Publication 2025110005
DETERMINANTS OF STUNTING AMONG CHILDREN AGED BETWEEN 0-24 MONTHS IN HAWASSA CITY SELECTED PUBLIC HEALTH FACILITIES, 2023/24. UNMATCHED CASE CONTROL STUDY
ABSTRACTBackground: Despite Growth, Monitoring and Promotion (GMP) service continual implementation as one of the health care priorities to assess and control growth faltering of children under 2 years old, yet there are high numbers of stunted children in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the determinants of Stunting among children aged less than 24 Months in Hawassa City Selected Public Health Facilities, 2023/24.Methods and materials: Institution based unmatched case-control study was conducted in Hawassa City, Ethiopia (May 1-June 15, 2024) to identify determinants of stunting among 120 cases and 240 controls. Data collection included face-to-face interviews and anthropometric measurements. Epi data version 4.6.0 and SPSS version 25 were used for data entry and analyses respectively. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were used to assess factors associated with the outcome variable. Statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05.Result: Accordingly, children who receive complementary feeding (AOR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.16, 0.94), Children whose mothers attend ANC (AOR = 0.11, 95% CI: 0.038, 0.32), Children who received early breastfeeding (before one hour) (AOR = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.15, 0.84) and Children in households that treat drinking water (AOR = 0.04, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.10) were significantly less likely to be stunted. On the other hand, poor maternal knowledge regarding food and nutrition (AOR = 3.12, 95% CI: 1.36, 7.16), Children with a dietary diversity score below 4 food groups (AOR = 6.81, 95% CI: 2.50, 18.60), and Children born with a birth interval of less than 2 years (AOR = 11.58, 95% CI: 4.57, 29.30) are linked to higher risk to be stunted.Conclusion: The study found that children with complementary feeding, early breastfeeding, and treated drinking water were less likely to be stunted, while poor maternal knowledge, limited dietary diversity, and short birth intervals increased the risk. It recommends to advocates for the timely introduction of complementary feeding, increased access to ANC services, improved maternal nutrition education, and widespread household water treatment methods.Keywords: Stunting, Determinants, Case Control, Hawassa, Sidama Region, South Ethiopia
SAMRAWIT ERMIYAS