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Stunting is one of the main public health problems in Tanzania. It is caused mainly by malnutrition among
children aged less than 5 years. Identifying the determinants of stunting and severe stunting among such children would
help public health planners to reshape and redesign new interventions to reduce this health hazard. This study aimed to
identify factors associated with stunting and severe stunting among children aged less than five years in Tanzania.
Methods: The sample is made up of 7324 children aged 0-59 months, fromthe Tanzania Demographic and Health
Surveys 2010. Analysis in this study was restricted to children who lived with the respondent (women aged 15-49 years).
Stunting and severe stunting were examined against a set of individual-, household- and community-level factors using
simple and multiple logistic regression analyses.
Results: The prevalence of stunting and severe stunting were 35.5 % [95 % Confidence interval (CI): 33.3-37.7] and 14.4 %
(95 % CI: 12.9-16.1) for children aged 0-23 months and 41.6 % (95 % CI: 39.8-43.3) and 16.1 % (95 % CI: 14.8-17.5) for
children aged 0-59 months, respectively. Multivariable analyses showed that the most consistent significant risk factors
for stunted and severely-stunted children aged 0-23 and 0-59 months were: mothers with no schooling, male children,
babies perceived to be of small or average size at birth by their mothers and unsafe sources of drinking water
[adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for stunted children aged 0-23 months = 1.37; 95 % CI: (1.07, 1.75)]; [AOR for severely stunted
children aged 0-23 months = 1.50; 95 % CI: (1.05, 2.14)], [AOR for stunted children aged 0-59 months = 1.42; 95 % CI:
(1.13, 1.79)] and [AOR for severely stunted children aged 0-59 months = 1.26; 95 % CI: (1.09, 1.46)].
Conclusions: Community-based interventions are needed to reduce the occurrence of stunting and severe stunting in
Tanzania. These interventions should target mothers with low levels of education, male children, small- or average-size
babies and households with unsafe drinking water. |
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