Risk factors associated with wasting among children aged 6 to 24 months old in Gaza strip

  • Authors

    • Maged Yassin The Islamic University of Gaza
    • Mohanad Taha The Islamic University of Gaza
    • Samar Abu Jamiea The Islamic University of Gaza
    2016-05-04
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijm.v4i1.5989
  • Children, Gaza Strip, Risk Factors, Wasting.

  • Abstract

    Wasting contributes to morbidity and mortality for children under 5 years of age particularly in the developing countries. This study identified the various risk factors associated with wasting among children aged 6 to 24 months old in Gaza Strip. The study sample consisted of 98 wasted children and 98 control children. A questionnaire interview was used. The World Health Organization Anthro software for assessing nutritional status of the world's children was applied. Data were computer analyzed using SPSS/PC statistical package version 21. Anthropometric data showed that birth weight was significantly lower in cases than controls (2.9±0.8 versus 3.1±0.6 kg, P=0.030). Weight and height were also significantly decreased in cases (P=0.000). Wasting was significantly higher among children of less educated mothers (χ2=8.110, P=0.044) and among children of less family income (OR=4.1, P=0.000). Children not received nutritional help or donation had more frequent wasting than those did (P=0.004). Wasting was significantly higher among non-exclusively breastfed children (OR=2.1, P=0.010) and among children who breastfed ≤12 months (P=0.021). Early introduction of complementary food increased wasting by 2.8 times (OR=2.8, P=0.001). Children with poor appetite had highest frequency of wasting (χ2=6.139, P=0.046). Wasting was significantly higher in respiratory and gastrointestinal tract infected children [OR=2.9, P=0.000 and OR=3.1, P=0.000, respectively). In conclusion, less income, not receive nutritional help or donation, non-exclusive breastfeeding and breastfeeding duration of ≤12 months, early start of complementary food and respiratory and gastrointestinal infections are the predicted risk factors of wasting among children in Gaza Strip.

  • References

    1. Adeba A, Garoma S, Fekadu H & Garoma W (2014). Prevalence’s of wasting and its associated factors of children among 6-59 months age in Guto Gida District, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Food Processing & Technology 5, 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2157-7110.1000289.
    2. Al-Wahaidi A & Lec'hvien S (2006). Studying the knowledge and practices of mothers of children aged 6-59 months regarding child health and nutrition in five localities in the Gaza Strip. Ard El Insan Benevolent Association, Gaza, Palestine.
    3. Ard El Insan Benevolent Association (2003). Nutritional assessment: Anthropometric survey in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian National Authority, 2003.
    4. Ard El Insan Benevolent Association (2010). The annual report. Gaza Strip, Palestinian National Authority, 2010.
    5. Backestrom C & Hursh-Cesar G (2012). Survey Research. Pennsylvania, United States: Literary Licensing, LLC, 2012.
    6. Black RE, Victora CG, Walker SP, Bhutta ZA, Christian P, de Onis M, Ezzati M, Grantham-McGregor S, Katz J, Martorell R & Uauy R (2013). Maternal and child undernutrition and overweight in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet 382(9890), 427-451. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60937-X.
    7. Bloss E, Wainaina F & Bailey RC (2004). Prevalence and predictors of underweight, stunting, and wasting among children aged 5 and under in Western Kenya, Bailey. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics 50, 260-270. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/tropej/50.5.260.
    8. Chalabi DAK (2013). Acute respiratory infection and malnutrition among children below 5 years of age in Erbil governorate, Iraq. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal 19(1), 66-70.
    9. Christian P, Lee SE, Donahue Angel M, Adair LS, Arifeen SE, Ashorn P, Barros FC, Fall CH, Fawzi WW, Hao W, Hu G, Humphrey JH, Huybregts L, Joglekar CV, Kariuki SK, Kolsteren P, Krishnaveni GV, Liu E, Martorell R, Osrin D, Persson LA, Ramakrishnan U, Richter L, Roberfroid D, Sania A, Ter Kuile FO, Tielsch J, Victora CG, Yajnik CS, Yan H, Zeng L & Black RE (2013). Risk of childhood undernutrition related to small-for-gestational age and preterm birth in low- and middle-income countries. International Journal of Epidemiology 42(5), 1340-1355. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyt109.
    10. Correia LL, Silva AC, Campos JS, Andrade FM, Machado MM, Lindsay AC, Leite AJ, Rocha HA & Cunha AJ (2014). Prevalence and determinants of child undernutrition and stunting in semiarid region of Brazil. Revista de Saúde Pública 48(1), 19-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-8910.2014048004828.
    11. Debeko DD & Goshu AT (2015). Nutritional Status of under- five Children in Hawassa Zuria District, Southern Ethiopia. American Journal of Health Research 3(5), 286-292. http://dx.doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20150305.14.
    12. Dewey KG & Mayers DR (2011). Early child growth: how do nutrition and infection interact? Maternal and Child Nutrition 7 (Suppl. 3), 129-142. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-8709.2011.00357.x.
    13. Edris M (2007). Assessment of nutritional status of preschool children of Gumbrit, North West Ethiopia. Ethiopian Journal of Health Development 21(2), 125-129. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ejhd.v21i2.10039.
    14. Eunice A & Sarah D (2013). An assessment of the nutritional status of under five children in four districts in the central region of Ghana. Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development 3(11), 851-860.
    15. Fleiss JL (1981). Statistical Methods for Rates and Proportions, 2nd edition, UK: Wiley-Interscience.
    16. Fuchs C, Sultana T, Ahmed T & Iqbal Hossain M (2014). Factors associated with acute malnutrition among children admitted to a diarrhoea treatment facility in Bangladesh. International Journal of Pediatrics 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/267806.
    17. Geberetsadik A, Worku A & Berhane Y (2015). Factors associated with acute respiratory infection in children under the age of 5 years: evidence from the 2011 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey. Pediatric Health, Medicine and Therapeutics 6, 9-13. http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/PHMT.S77915.
    18. Gupta A (2014). Study of the prevalence of diarrhoea in children under the age of five years: it’s association with wasting. Indian Journal of Scientific Research 7(1), 1315-1318.
    19. Jara-Palacios MÃ, Cornejo AC, Peláez GA, Verdesoto J & Galvis AA (2015). Prevalence and determinants of exclusive breastfeeding among adolescent mothers from Quito, Ecuador: a cross-sectional study. International Breastfeeding Journal 10, 33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13006-015-0058-1.
    20. Kakati R & Baruah R (2015). Complementary feeding practices and nutritional status amongst 7- 12 months infants in rural areas of Kamrup District, Assam. International Journal of Advanced Research 3(3), 715-722.
    21. Makoka D & Masibo PK (2015). Is there a threshold level of maternal education sufficient to reduce child undernutrition? Evidence from Malawi, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. BMC Pediatrics 15, 96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12887-015-0406-8.
    22. Mann CJ (2003). Observational research methods. Research design II: cohort, cross sectional and case-control studies. Emergency Medicine Journal (20), 54-60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/emj.20.1.54.
    23. Mehta NM, Corkins MR, Lyman B, Malone A, Goday PS, Carney LN, Monczka JL, Plogsted SW & Schwenk WF (2013). Defining pediatric malnutrition: a paradigm shift toward etiology-related definitions. Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition 37(4), 460-481. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0148607113479972.
    24. Onsa ZO & Ahmed NMK (2014). Impact of exclusive breast feeding on the growth of Sudanese children (0-24 months). Pakistan Journal of Nutrition 13(2), 99-106. http://dx.doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2014.99.106.
    25. Peiris TDR & Wijesinghe DGNG (2011). Nutritional status of under 5 year-old children and its relationship with maternal nutrition knowledge in Weeraketiya DS division of Sri Lanka. Tropical Agricultural Research 21(4), 330-339. http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/tar.v21i4.3309.
    26. Prado E & Dewey K (2012). Insight nutrition and brain development in early life. Alive and Thrive Technical Brief, Washington, DC Issue 4.
    27. Prendergast AJ (2015). Malnutrition and vaccination in developing countries. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 370 20140141. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0141.
    28. Radi S, Abu Mourad T & Papandreou C (2009): Nutritional Status of Palestinian Children Attending Primary Health Care Centers in Gaza. Indian Journal of Pediatrics 76(2), 163-166. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12098-009-0046-9.
    29. Rahman A (2016). Significant risk factors for childhood malnutrition: Evidence from an Asian developing country. Science Journal of Public Health 4(1-1), 16-27. http://dx.doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.s.2016040101.14.
    30. Rodríguez L, Cervantes E & Ortiz R (2011). Malnutrition and Gastrointestinal and Respiratory Infections in Children: A Public Health Problem. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 8, 1174-1205. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8041174.
    31. Roy RK, Matubbar MS, Kamruzzaman M & Ud-Daula A (2015). Determination of nutritional status of under-five year children employing multiple interrelated contributing factors in southern part of Bangladesh. International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences 4(3), 264-272. http://dx.doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150403.13.
    32. Seedhom AE, Mohamed ES & Mahfouz EM (2014). Determinants of stunting among preschool children, Minia, Egypt. International Public Health Forum 1(2), 6-9.
    33. Sengupta P, Philip N & Benjamin AI (2010). Epidemiological correlates of under-nutrition in under-5 years children in an urban slum of Ludhiana. Health and Population: Perspectives and Issues 33(1), 1-9.
    34. Song JW & Chung KC (2010). Observational Studies: Cohort and Case-Control Studies. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 126(6), 2234-2242. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PRS.0b013e3181f44abc.
    35. Sonko A & Worku A (2015). Prevalence and predictors of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life among women in Halaba special woreda, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region/SNNPR/, Ethiopia: a community based cross-sectional study. Archives of Public Health 73, 53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13690-015-0098-4.
    36. Sreedhara MS & Banapurmath CR (2013). A study of nutritional status of infants in relation to their complementary feeding practices. Current Pediatric Research 18(1), 39-41.
    37. United Nations Children's Emergency Fund/World Food Programme/World Health Organization (2010). Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on the Reduction of stunting through improvement of complementary feeding and Maternal Nutrition, 25-27 March 2010, Grand Millennium Hotel Bangkok Thailand. Pp 1-28.
    38. United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (2014). The State of the World’s Children 2014 in Numbers, Every Child Counts, Definitions of the Indicators, Pp 41.
    39. Upadhyay RP, Chinnakali P, Bhilwar1 M, Krishnan B, Kulkarni V, Gupta A & Rizwan SA (2015). Prevalence of malnutrition, acute respiratory infections and diarrhoea in children aged 1-5 years in urban slums of Puducherry, South India. International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics 2(1), 37-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.5455/2349-3291.ijcp20150209.
    40. Webber L, Hill C, Saxton J, Jaarsveld CHMV & Wardle J (2009). Eating behavior and weight in children. International Journal of Obesity 33(1), 21-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2008.219.
    41. World Health Organization Anthro for personal computers 2007 software for assessing growth and development of the world's children. Version 2. Geneva: WHO, 2007.
    42. World Health Organization. Training Course on Child Growth Assessment. Geneva, WHO, 2008.
    43. Yassin MM & Lubbad AH (2010). Risk factors associated with nutritional rickets among children aged 2 to 36 months old in the Gaza strip: A case control study. International Journal of Food, Nutrition and Public Health 3(1), 33-45.

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Yassin, M., Taha, M., & Abu Jamiea, S. (2016). Risk factors associated with wasting among children aged 6 to 24 months old in Gaza strip. International Journal of Medicine, 4(1), 26-31. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijm.v4i1.5989

    Received date: 2016-03-09

    Accepted date: 2016-04-03

    Published date: 2016-05-04