Abstract:
Background: In Ethiopia, early childhood undernutrition is one of the serious public health
problems and among the highest in the global.
Objective: To assess the prevalence of undernutrition and associated factors among children 6-
59 months of age in productive safety net program beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in Gursum
District, Somali Region, Ethiopia.
Methods: A comparative community based cross-sectional study design was used among
randomly selected 537 children 6 to 59 months of age and their mother’s/care givers from June 5
to July 5, 2018. Data were entered in to EPI Data version 3.1. & exported to SPSS version 20 for
analysis. Bivariable logistic regression was used p-value less than 0.25 as candidate to see the
association between each independent variable and the outcome variable. Multivariable logistic
regression analysis was used to control for all possible confounders and to identify independent
predictors of undernutrition. Odds ratio along with 95% confidence interval were estimated to
measure the strength of the association. Level of statistical significance was declared at P-Value
less or equal to 0.05.
Result: The overall undernutrition prevalence among under-five children was 35.3% for
stunting, and 16.4% for wasting. The prevalence of stunting and wasting in productive safety net
program beneficiaries was 39.4% and 19.7% while 31.3% and 13.2% children from the nonbeneficiary
households were stunted and wasted respectively. Male sex, polygamy status,
colostrum deprivation and latrine unavailability were the factors associated with stunting among
children in beneficiary households. Whereas age of the child 36-59, colostrum deprivation and
unclean water source were factors associated with stunting among children from the nonbeneficiary
households. Similarly, < 2years birth interval and presence of fever. Were the factors
associated with wasting among children from beneficiary households while colostrum
deprivation and low frequency of breastfeeding were significantly associated with wasting
among children from non-beneficiary households. Conclusion: The prevalence of undernutrition
among under-five children was high in the Gursum district. Multi sectorial community based
infant young child feeding interventions should be integrated into the PSNP intervention
