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Child Stunting and Maternal Undernutrition in Two Rural Ethiopian Communities Five Years after the Initiation of the National Nutrition Program

Addressing maternal and child undernutrition is one of the strategic objectives and a priority area agenda for the National Nutrition Program of Ethiopia. We estimated the burden of maternal and child undernutrition in two rural communities (Halaba & Zeway) of Ethiopia and compared outcomes with regional/national reports as well as explored their associations with factors such as gender, socioeconomic‐demographic factors and access‐utilization of health services. In a cross‐sectional study between March and June 2013, we used interviewer administered questionnaire to collect data from mothers in addition to various anthropometric measurements from both mothers and their <5yrs of age children in rural communities of Halaba, south Ethiopia, and Zeway, Oromiya region (n=630 mother‐child pairs, total). Findings showed that maternal undernutrition (% BMI<18.5) ranged from moderate (14%, Zeway) to high (22%, Halaba). We also found alarming levels of stunting and underweight (54% stunting, 36% underweight, in Halaba) and (42% stunting, 21% underweight, in Zeway) among children. Up to 95% of Halaba and 85% of Zeway mothers reported consumption patterns that were ‘same as usual’ or ‘less than usual’ during their most recent pregnancy compared to times of none‐pregnancy/lactation. Up 61% also reported abstaining from consumption of certain nutritious foods for cultural reasons. Factors such as gender and socio‐economic‐demographic structure of the household, including imbalance of power, physiological density, household size and dietary habits during pregnancy showed significant associations with maternal and child undernutrition (p<0.05), warranting further investigation. The observed levels of child and maternal undernutrition, particularly in Halaba areas were unexpected and of serious concern, given that a national nutrition program administered by the government has been in place for some time. This baseline study provides insights to policy and decision makers to revise and/or strengthen the nutrition programs designed to target vulnerable segments of the population in these regions.