Nutritional status and risk factors for stunting in preschool children in Bhutan

We examined the anthropometric status and risk factors for malnutrition among children aged 0 –59 months through the 2015 National Nutrition Survey in Bhutan. We assessed in 1,506 children nutritional status (byz‐scores of height‐for‐age [HAZ], weight‐for‐height [WHZ], and weight‐for‐age [WAZ]), estimating prevalence, adjusted for survey design, of stunting, wasting, underweight, and overweight (< −2 for HAZ, WHZ, and WAZ and>2 for WHZ). Children were also assessed for pedal oedema. We conducted multivariable linear/logistic regression analysis to identify child, maternal, and household risk factors for childhood undernutrition and overweight, excluding children with oedema (1.7%). Mean (SE) HAZ, WHZ, and WAZ were −0.82 (0.13), 0.10 (0.04), and −0.42 (0.05), respectively. Prevalence of stunting, wasting, underweight, and overweight were 21.2%, 2.6%, 7.4%, and 2.6%, respectively. In multivariable regressions, risk of stunting significantly increased by age: 5.3% at<6  months (reference), 16.8% at 6–23 months (OR = 3.06, 95% CI [0.63, 14.8]), and 25.0% at 24–59 months (OR = 5.07, [1.16, 22.2]). Risk of stunting also decreased in a dose–response manner with improved maternal education. None of the examined variables were significantly associated with wasting or overweight. Despite a WHZ distribution comparable with the World Health Organization reference (with ~2.6% vs. an expected 2.5% of children beyond 2 z in each tail), stunting p...
Source: Maternal and Child Nutrition - Category: Nutrition Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research