Comparative Study Of Undernutrition And Associated Factors Among High School Adolescent Girls In Urban And Rural Settings Of Sorro District, Hadiya Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Adolescence is individuals in the age groups of 10–19 years age. It is second most physical growth rate taken place next to infants. In most developing countries including Ethiopia, nutrition initiatives like first 1000 days have been focusing on only children and pregnant mothers to halt intergenerational effect of malnutrition. However, addressing the nutritional needs of adolescent girls is the right time to break the vicious cycle of intergenerational malnutrition. Few journal studies were conducted to find out undernutrition and associated factors among adolescent girls in Ethiopia general and in this study area particularly. Objectives: To assess prevalence and factors associated with undernutrition among adolescent girls attending high schools in rural and urban settings of Sorro District, Hadiya Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Methods: institution based comparative cross- sectional study was employed among 414 adolescent girls attending high schools in rural and urban settings of Sorro District. Adolescent girls were selected using multistage sampling technique. Data were collected by a structured questionnaire, pretested, interviewer administered and anthropometric measurement. The study was conducted from March 15 to April 15 2019. Data were entered into Epidata Version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS for windows version 20. Indices for assessing undernutrition were generated using WHO Anthroplus version 1.0.4. The results of the descriptive statistics were expressed as percentages and frequencies using tables and graphs. Associations between independent variables and dependent variables were analyzed using bivariate and multivariable binary logistic regression analyses. Odds ratio with 95% CI were used to determine association. A statistical significance was declared at p value <0.05. Results: Overall prevalence of stunting and thinness were 25.1% and 6.8%, respectively. The prevalence of stunting was significantly higher among rural adolescent girls (30.4%) than urban adolescent girls (19.8%). Likewise thinness was also higher among rural adolescent girls (8.7%) than in urban areas (4.8%). On multivariate binary logistic regression model; stunting was significantly associated with place of residence (AOR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.8-2.94) and nutrition knowledge (AOR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.07-2.76) whereas thinness was significantly associated with households’ wealth tertile (AOR: 4.2; 95% CI: 1.13-15.49), source of drinking water (AOR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.01-5.30), dietary diversity (AOR: 2.9; 95% CI: 1.28-6.92) and skipping breakfast (AOR: 3.9; 95% CI: 1.15-13.82). Conclusion and Recommendation: the study revealed that prevalence of stunting was significantly higher in rural areas than in urban area.The prevalence of thinness was higher in rural than urban areas but it was not significant. Hadiya zone health department and Sorro District health offices should design nutrition intervention which targets adolescent girls’ undernutrition by giving priority for rural areas.