Вирусология и микология
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Under Nutrition and associated factors among lactating mothers in Southern Ethiopia: Institution Based Cross-sectional study

Gemechu Kejela, Markos Desalegn

Background: Maternal nutrition contributes significantly to the long term health of mothers and their children. Despite this importance, globally, about 795 million people are undernourished and women and their children are the most vulnerable groups.

Objective: The main aim of this study was to assess under nutrition and associated factors among lactating mothers in Arba Minch zuria district, Southern Ethiopia.

Methods: Institution based cross-sectional study was used. Data was collected using interview administered questionnaire from a total of 441 lactating mothers. To get the required respondents, first health centers in arba minch zuria district were selected by using lottery method and probability to population size was performed for each health center. Finally, eligible respondents were selected using systematic sampling method. The questionnaire was pretested and close supervision was undertaken during data collection to assure the quality of data. The collected data was entered using Epi data version 3.02 and exported to SPSS version 20.0 for analysis. Binary and multivariable logistic regression were conducted, and finally variables with p-value of <0.05 were considered as statistically significant predictors.

Results: Prevalence of under nutrition in this study was 26.1%. Under nutrition is higher among mothers who are unable to read and write (AOR (95% CI)=3.931 (1.700,9.091)), mothers who experienced more than five numbers of pregnancies (AOR (95%CI)=2.453 (1.051, 5.728)), those with more than four members of family size (AOR (95% CI)=2.289 (1.171, 4.472)), those who live in the household with no toilet (AOR (95% CI)=6.407 (3.556, 11.545)) and those who have less than 4 antenatal care visits (AOR (95% CI)=2.053 (1.185, 3.559)).

Conclusions and recommendations: In this study, the magnitude of under nutrition among lactating women was high. So, nutrition based health information, education and communication is needed for mothers especially during pregnancy and lactation in the study area.