Factors associated with stunting in Ethiopian children under 5: a comparison of DHS 2000, 2005 and 2011 (620.6)

Background: 44% of Ethiopian children are stunted, negatively impacting physical and mental development. A conceptual hierarchical framework that categorizes risk factors into inherent, distal, intermediate and proximal has been used to examine risk factors associated with stunting. Objective: Identify factors associated with stunting using a conceptual hierarchical framework and examine trends in these factors over time among children under 5 in Ethiopia. Methods: Data from DHS (Demographic and Health Survey) 2000, 2005 and 2011 were analyzed. Step‐wise multivariate logistic regression was performed keeping only those factors with a significance of 0.1 or less. Results: In 2011, factors associated with a significantly higher risk of stunting included being a boy, increased age, mother with no or only primary school education, lower SES, short birth interval, small birth size, small maternal stature, low maternal BMI and having a diarrhea episode in the last 2 weeks. Stunting has reduced significantly across the three surveys. There is only slight difference in risk factors over the years. In all three surveys, infants with small birth size are 1.5 times more likely to be stunted (p<0.05), diarrhea is associated with about 1.2‐1.3 times the risk of being stunted and for every cm increase in maternal stature, an infant is about 10% less likely to be stunted. In the 2011 survey, for every unit increase in BMI, the children are 5% less likely to be stunted. Conclusions: Controlling for the effects mediated through education and wealth, birth interval, size at birth, maternal height, maternal BMI and diarrhea are still significant predictors of stunting in Ethiopian children.