2025/09/05 by Biruk Beletew Abate, Ayelign Mengesha Kassie, Mesfin Wudu Kassaw +2
#Adolescent girls #Ethiopia #Stunting
paper · doi:10.20372/nadre:17298
Purpose: The purpose ofthisstudy wastoassessthe prevalence of stunting andidentify factorsassociatedwith it among adolescent girls in Ethiopia. Design and methods: From 15,683 women participants of the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS), a sub-sample of 3,498 adolescents aged 15−19 years were selected; from which 2,733 adolescents who had a complete response to all variables of interest were retained for analysis. Variables were selected using conceptualframework.Weusedheight-for-ageZ-scoreindex(HAZ)growthstandardslessthan‐2toiden tify stunting. We adjusted for weights and sampling design. Bivariable and multivariable regression analysis was carried out. Results: The prevalence of stunting was 410(15%); comprising of 353 (12.9%) moderate and 57(2.2%) severe stunting cases. The odds of being stunted among respondents living in Tigray (AOR = 3.38, 95%CI: 1.47, 7.79), Amhara (AOR =2.66,95%CI: 1.18, 6.012) and Addis Ababa (AOR = 4.24, 95%CI: 1.84, 9.79) were higher com pared to respondents living in Dire-Dawa. Adolescent girls living in rural areas (AOR = 2.29, 95%CI: 1.10, 4.75) had higher odds of stunting compared to those living in urban areas. Adolescent girls from the lowest wealth quintile (AOR=2.38,95%CI:1.56,9.67)hadhigheroddsofstuntingcomparedtothehighestwealthquintile.Re spondents who have one child (AOR = 3.33, 95%CI: 5.78, 15.31), and two children (AOR = 4.01, 95% CI: 1.39, 7.73) hadhigheroddsofbeingstuntedcomparedtothosewhohavenochildren.Theoddsofstuntingamongad olescent girls having no access to safe water supply (AOR= 3.17, 95% CI: 1.21–8.37)andhaving noaccess tohy gienic toilet (AOR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.17, 1.95) were higher compared to those having access to safe water supply and hygienic toilets respectively. Conclusions: The current study revealed that stunting is an important public health problem among adolescent girls in Ethiopia. Practice implications: Health care workers should screen nutritional status of adolescent girls and assess the risk factors of stunting giving emphasis to adolescent girls living in rural areas, who are within the lowest wealth quintile, who have children, and those who have no access to safe water supply and have no access to hygienic toilets.