Mother–child dyads of overnutrition and undernutrition in sub-Saharan Africa
Okyere, Joshua, Donkoh, Irene Esi, Seidu, Abdul-Aziz, Ahinkorah, Bright Opoku, Aboagye, Richard Gyan, and Yaya, Sanni (2024) Mother–child dyads of overnutrition and undernutrition in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition, 43 (1). 1.
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Abstract
Background: Malnutrition remains one of the major public health concerns globally. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 2 which seeks to ensure that hunger and malnutrition are reduced by 2030, it is imperative to ascertain the factors influencing their occurrence. This study examined the prevalence and factors associated with mother–child dyads of overnutrition and undernutrition in sub-Saharan Africa.
Methods: Demographic and Health Survey data from 25 sub-Saharan African countries were used for the study. The sample was made up of 125,280 mother–child dyads. Descriptive analysis was performed to determine the prevalence of overweight or obese mother (OWOBM) with a stunted child (OWOBM-SC), OWOBM with an underweight child (OWOBM-UC), OWOBM with a wasted child (OWOBM-WC), and OWOBM with any form of child’s undernutrition indicators (OWOBM-SUWC). Multilevel regression models were developed to examine the factors associated with these indicators. The results were presented using an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with their respective 95% confidence interval (CI).
Results: Higher likelihood of OWOBM-SUWC was found among women aged 45–49 [AOR 2.20, 95% CI 1.70, 2.85], those with primary [AOR 1.32, 95% CI 1.21, 1.44] or secondary education [AOR 1.21, 95% CI 1.09, 1.35], and divorced women [AOR 1.32, 95% CI 1.02, 1.73]. However, lower odds of OWOBM-SUWC were observed among women who were working [AOR 0.82, 95% CI 0.76, 0.89] and those breastfeeding [AOR 0.75, 95% CI 0.70, 0.82]. The odds of OWOBM-SUWC was lower among females compared to male children [AOR 0.85, 95% CI 0.80, 0.90]. Compared to children aged <1 year, children of all other age groups were more likely to have OWOBM-SUWC. Other child characteristics significantly associated with OWOBM-SUWC were low birth weight [AOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.32, 1.71], having diarrhea [AOR 1.13, 95% CI 1.04, 1.24], and higher birth order [AOR 1.37, 95% CI 1.13, 1.66]. Children whose mothers used unimproved toilet facilities [AOR 0.90, 95% CI 0.83, 0.98], those who lived in rural areas [AOR 0.79, 95% CI 0.71, 0.87], and children from the Central [AOR 0.55, 95% CI 0.46, 0.65], Eastern [AOR 0.44, 95% CI 0.38, 0.52] and Western [AOR 0.76, 95% CI 0.65, 0.89] sub-Saharan Africa were less likely to have OWOBM-SUWC.
Conclusion: Combination of child, maternal, and contextual factors could explain mother–child dyads of overnutrition and undernutrition in sub-Saharan Africa. Addressing this situation requires multidimensional policies and interventions that empower women through education and economic engagement. The observed sub-regional differences in policies and commitments related to addressing malnutrition suggest the need for comprehensive and coordinated efforts to implement and strengthen multisectoral comprehensive nutrition plans across sub-Saharan Africa. Sharing best practices and lessons learned can help improve the effectiveness and comprehensiveness of nutrition interventions and contribute to reducing the prevalence of malnutrition.
Item ID: | 81988 |
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Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
ISSN: | 2072-1315 |
Keywords: | Demographic and Health Survey, Stunting, Sub-Saharan Africa, Undernutrition, Underweight, Wasting |
Copyright Information: | © The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. |
Date Deposited: | 13 Aug 2024 01:49 |
FoR Codes: | 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4206 Public health > 420606 Social determinants of health @ 100% |
SEO Codes: | 20 HEALTH > 2004 Public health (excl. specific population health) > 200401 Behaviour and health @ 100% |
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