Ordinal Logistic Regression Analysis For Identifying Risk Factors Of Child Malnutrition In Ethiopia

Abstract

Malnutrition is the most common health problem affecting both children and adults in Ethiopia. According to 2014 EDHS mini report nationally, 40 percent of children under age five are stunted, and 18 percent of children are severely stunted. In this thesis, partial proportional odds model would be used to identify the risk factors of malnutrition in children of Ethiopia. The data consisted of 7,738 children of aged 5 years or below. We considered the levels of stunting (malnutrition) as the outcome variable with four ordinal categories (not-stunted, mildly stunted, moderately stunted and severely stunted) as per the specification of WHO to define level of malnutrition. The objective of this study was to identify the risk factors of child malnutrition in Ethiopia using the 2011 EDHS data. To achieve the objective of this study descriptive statistics, chi-square test of association and partial proportional odds model and related tests were used for data analysis using socio-economic, demographic and health related variables as explanatory variables and level of stunting as the response variable. The result of the analysis revealed that the variables child’s sex, child’s sex, mother’s education level, mother’s body mass index, place of residence, region, wealth index, previous birth interval, birth order and the number of household members were found to be significant determinants of child malnutrition in Ethiopia and from the result it is revealed that children born with lower previous birth interval (less than 24 months) were more likely to be mildly, moderately and severely stunted than those born within higher birth interval. Children in households who had large number of members were found to be more likely of being mildly, moderately and severely stunted than those who were in households with small number of members. Children of rural Ethiopia were more likely of being mildly, moderately and severely stunted than children of urban Ethiopia. It is suggested that for reducing childhood malnutrition, due emphasis should be given in improving the knowledge and practice of parents on appropriate young child feeding practice and frequent growth monitoring together with appropriate and timely interventions.