Prevalence of Stunting and Associated Factors in Children of 6-59 Months' Old in Ethiopia

Introduction: Malnutrition among under-5 year children is a common public health problem and it is one of the main reasons for the death of children in developing countries. About 35% of under-five children's death is associated with malnutrition globally. There are 165 million stunted, 99 million under-weighted, and 51 million wasted children globally. In Ethiopia, more than half of child deaths are associated with malnutrition. The objective was to assess the prevalence of stunting and associated factors in children of 6-59 months old in central Tigray, Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in children of 6-59 months of age with a total sample size of 420. Systematic random sampling method was used. Data were coded and entered in the computer using SPSS version 20 Software and world health organization anthropometric version 3.3 was used to convert these nutritional data into Z-scores of the induces. Descriptive summary using frequencies, proportions, graphs and cross tabs is used to present study result. Binary Logistic regression analysis was carried out at two levels to identify factors associated with stunting Result: The prevalence of stunting is 47% and variables like age of the mother, duration of breastfeeding and the way how to feed the child was the variable that had statistical significantly associated with stunting. Conclusion: The prevalence of stunting is high and consistent as compared to other studies done in Ethiopia. This indicates that malnutrition among under-five in central Tigray is comparable with other regional states of Ethiopia.