Premium
Prevalence and risk factors for stunting and severe stunting among children under three years old in mid‐western rural areas of C hina
Author(s) -
Jiang Y.,
Su X.,
Wang C.,
Zhang L.,
Zhang X.,
Wang L.,
Cui Y.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
child: care, health and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2214
pISSN - 0305-1862
DOI - 10.1111/cch.12148
Subject(s) - residence , breastfeeding , malnutrition , medicine , environmental health , logistic regression , public health , cross sectional study , pediatrics , demography , gerontology , nursing , pathology , sociology
Abstract Background Adequate nutrition is needed to ensure optimum growth and development of infants and young children. Although the national economy has developed rapidly during recent decades in C hina, malnutrition continues to be a major public health problem. The aim of the present study was undertaken to assess the prevalence and risk factors associated with stunting and severe stunting under 3 years old in mid‐western rural areas in C hina. Methods A community‐based cross‐sectional survey was carried out in 84 villages in mid‐western provinces of C hina in 2010. A total of 1260 children were selected for nutritional assessment in terms of stunting and severe stunting using the new W orld H ealth O rganization growth standards. Hierarchical logistic regression was used to examine the risk factors for adverse nutritional status. Results The prevalence of stunting and severe stunting was 27.0% and 13.2% respectively. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis showed that the risk factors for stunted children were province of residence, caregiver's education, child's gender, low birthweight and duration of exclusive breastfeeding (<6 months). The risk factors for severe stunting in children aged 0–36 months were province of residence, caregiver's education and child's gender. Conclusions These results indicate that malnutrition is still a major public health problem among children under 3 years old. The government should implement appropriate nutritional intervention strategies to help reduce the prevalence of malnutrition in children.