Correlation of soil transmitted helminth infections and Nutritional status among primary school children in Shashogo district, hadiya zone, southern Ethiopia: Comparative cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Soil-transmitted helminth(STH) infections are among the most common infections worldwide and affect the poor and deprived communities. Soil-transmitted helminth infections are one of the top causes of morbidity among school aged children. Heavy worm burdens lead to malnutrition, anemia, diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss, loss of appetite and impaired mental and physical development in children. Objective: The main objective of this study is to determine the association/correlation between Soil-transmitted helminth infection and nutritional status among primary school children in Shashogo District, Hadiya zone, Southern Ethiopia, 2016. Methods: An institution (school) based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted from March to April. All school children who attend primary schools of Shashogo district were the source population and samples of students in the selected primary schools were included into this study. To select the study units, simple random sampling technique was used after screening the children for the presence of STH infections and absence of the infection. Then 75 infected and 148 non-infected children's were selected by simple random sampling. Anthropometric and socio-economic characteristics were collected. The collected data were coded and entered into EpiData and analyzed by using the Statistical package for Social Sciences and Anthroplus software. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used. Results: A total of 222 children (74 STH infected and 148 non infected) age 5-14 years were studied. The overall prevalence rate of malnutrition among children with soil transmitted helminth infected and non-infected was 12.2% and 10.8%, respectively. Malnutrition was found to be higher in infected than non-infected children and this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion : Prevalence of malnutrition in STH infected and non-infected children were similar. The present study shows family size is important determinants of nutritional status of school children.