Associated risk factors of underweight among under-five children in Ethiopia using multilevel ordinal logistic regression model.

BACKGROUND: Malnutrition is associated with both under nutrition and over nutrition which causes the body to get improper amount of nutrients to maintain tissues and organ function. Under nutrition is the result of insufficient intake of food, poor utilization of nutrients due to illnesses, or a combination of these factors. The purpose of this study was to identify associated risk factors and assess the variation of underweight among under-five children of different regions in Ethiopia. METHODS: Ethiopian Demography and Health Survey (EDHS-2016) weight-to-age data for under-five children is used. In order to achieve the objective of this study; descriptive, single level and multilevel ordinal logistic regression analysis were used. RESULTS: From a total of 8935 children about 8.1% were severely underweight, 17.1% were moderately underweight and 74.8% were normal. The test of heterogeneity suggested that underweight varies among region and multilevel ordinal model fit data better than single level ordinal model. CONCLUSION: Educational level of mother, religion, birth order, type of birth, sex of child, mother body mass index, birth size of child, existence of diarrhea for last two weeks before survey, existence of fever for last two weeks before survey, duration of breast feeding, age child and wealth index had significant effect on underweight among under-five children in Ethiopia. The finding revealed that among the fitted multilevel partial proportional odds model, the random intercept model with fixed coefficients is appropriate to assess the risk factors of underweight among under-five children in Ethiopia. The findings of this study have important policy implications. The government should work closely with both the private sector and civil society to teach women to have sufficient knowledge, awareness and mechanisms of improving under-five underweight for children's wellbeing.

Pooled Prevalence and Determinants of Prelacteal Feeding Practice in Eastern Africa Evidence from Demographic and Health Survey Data: A Multilevel Study.

BACKGROUND: Despite the benefits of breast milk and colostrum for the health and survival of children, early prelacteal feeding is commonly practiced worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the pooled prevalence and determinants of prelacteal feeding in Eastern Africa. METHODS: This study was carried out within 11 East African countries from 2010 to 2018, a pooled study of prelacteal feeding was performed. For assessing model fitness and contrast, intra-class correlation coefficient, median odds ratio, proportional change in variance, and deviance were used. In order to identify possible covariates associated with prelacteal feeding in the study area, the multilevel multivariable logistic regression model was adapted. Adjusted Odds Ratio was used with 95% confidence interval to declare major prelacteal factors. RESULTS: The pooled prevalence of prelacteal feeding in Eastern Africa was 12% (95% CI: 11.42-12.53%), with the highest prevalence of prelacteal feeding in the Comoros (39%) and the lowest in Malawi (3%). Multilevel multivariable logistic regression model; wealth index (AOR = 1.22; 95% CI 1.03-1.34), ANC visit (AOR = 1.42; 95% CI: 1.12-1.79), institutional delivery (AOR = 0.58; 95% CI: 0.58-0.64), small birth size (AOR = 1.14; 95% CI: 1.30-1.26), delivery type (AOR = 2.61; 95% CI: 2.30-2.96), and high community ANC visit (AOR = 0.90; 95% CI: 0.84-0.97) were significantly associated with prelacteal feeding in Eastern Africa. CONCLUSION: In East Africa, the magnitude of prelacteal feeding was still high. The possible determinants of prelacteal feeding in Eastern Africa were wealth index, birth interval, delivery mode, place of delivery, ANC visit, and community ANC visit. Structural improvements are required for women with caesarean births to achieve optimal breastfeeding practice in Eastern Africa.