Body image dissatisfaction is associated with perceived body weight among secondary school adolescents in Harar Town, eastern Ethiopia.

Purpose: Body image dissatisfaction has emerged as an important determinant of dietary and physical activity, which in turn determine adolescents' nutritional status. Hence, it is important to understand predictors of body image dissatisfaction. Therefore, this study aimed to assess body image dissatisfaction and its associated factors among secondary school adolescents in the study area. Methods: Data collected for other purposes were used to assess body image dissatisfaction among adolescents in Harar town. Body image dissatisfaction was assessed using the Body Part Satisfaction Scale. Data processing and analysis were performed using STATA version 14, and binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with body image dissatisfaction. Factors associated with body image dissatisfaction were determined by estimating AOR along with 95% CI and the statistical significance was declared at a p-value less than or equal to 0.05. Result: The prevalence of body image dissatisfaction was 22.06% [95% CI (19.63, 24.70)]. This study also revealed that males were more dissatisfied with their upper torso and face, and females were more dissatisfied with their middle torso, lower torso, height, and weight than males. In this study, body image dissatisfaction was associated with perception of being fat [AOR = 1.89, 95% CI (1.23, 2.91)], anxiety [AOR = 1.59, 95% CI (1.02, 2.48)], and cigarette smoking [AOR = 1.63, 95% CI (1.03, 2.58)]. Conclusion: Almost one in five secondary school adolescents in Harar had body image dissatisfaction, which was significantly associated with perceptions of being fat, anxiety, and smoking. In this study, a significant number of the adolescents experienced body image dissatisfaction. Hence, all concerned bodies have to take action to reduce the burden.

Overweight and obesity and associated factors among public and private secondary school adolescent students in Harar city, Eastern Ethiopia: A comparative cross-sectional study.

Adolescent overweight and obesity are growing public health concerns in developing nations like Ethiopia. They are closely linked to an increased risk of non-communicable diseases, a deterioration in health-related quality of life, subpar academic performance, and a decline in social and emotional well-being. There is, however, little research in this field. Thus, this study aimed to assess overweight and obesity and associated factors among public and private secondary school adolescent students in Harar city, Eastern Ethiopia. A school-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 781 secondary school adolescents in Harar city from February to March 2022. Multi-stage sampling was used to identify 781 study participants (586 in public and 195 in private schools). Anthropometric measures and self-administered structured questionnaires were used to obtain the data. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine the association between independent variables and overweight and obesity. Statistical significance was declared at P < .05. The overall magnitude of overweight and obesity was 9.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 7.2-11.4%] with 16.2% in private schools. Being female [adjusted odd ratio (AOR) = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.17-3.55], late adolescent age [AOR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.31-0.90], bigger family size [AOR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.31-0.97], high paternal education level [AOR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.08-3.81], eating meat [AOR = 3.41, 95% CI: 1.27-9.17] and not consuming breakfast daily [AOR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.24-3.67] were factors associated with overweight and obesity among all secondary school adolescents. A high maternal educational level, not eating breakfast and dinner daily in private secondary school adolescents and having a feminine gender, eating eggs, and not walking or riding a bicycle for at least 10 minutes continuously in public secondary school adolescents were factors associated with overweight and obesity. The extent of overweight and obesity was notably higher in the study area. Communities and educational institutions should work together to promote healthy lifestyle choices among adolescents, with a special emphasis on girls and students enrolled in private schools.

The Cost of Maternal Complications and Its Associated Factors Among Mothers Attending Public Hospitals in Harari Region and Dire Dawa City Administration, Eastern Ethiopia: An Institution-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Pregnant women face high costs for health-care services despite being advertised as free. These costs include non-medical expenses, lost productivity, difficulties caring for family members, and long-term financial impact from complications. Limited research has been done on the cost burden of maternal services and complications, despite numerous studies on maternal health service provision. This is notable considering the government's claim of providing free maternal health-care services. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in July (1-30) 2022 among 425 randomly selected mothers in Harari and Dire Dawa City, Eastern Ethiopia. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and medical record reviews. The collected data was entered into Epi-Data version 3.02 and analyzed using STATA version 14.0 after data cleaning. Descriptive statistics and linear regression analysis were used to examine the data, ensuring assumptions of linearity, independence, homoscedasticity, and normality were met. The correlation coefficient was used to assess the strength of the association. Results: The median cost of maternal complications was around 4250 ETB (81.3 USD; IQR = 2900-5833.3), factors that predicted cost were monthly family income of ≥3001 birr (ß=1.13; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.26), distance from hospital (ß=0.73; 95% CI = 0.64-0.83), being admitted for less than 4 days (ß=0.60; 95% CI = 0.53-0.69), accompanied by relatives besides their husbands (ß=1.93; 95% CI = 1.52-2.46), caesarian sections delivery (ß=1.17; 95% CI = 1.04-1.31), and giving birth to a normal baby (ß=0.86; 95% CI = 0.77-0.97). Conclusion: Maternal complications incur significant costs, with factors such as family income, travel time, hospital stay, caregiver presence, mode of delivery, and neonatal outcome predicting these costs. The Ethiopian health system should address the additional expenses faced by mothers with complications and their caregivers.