Abstract:
Background: Chronic energy deficiency is a significant public health problem among lactating
mothers in Ethiopia, which increase the risk of intergenerational malnutrition, mortality and
lower the resistance to infection. Adequate nutrition is crucial for survival, performance, health
and well-being of lactating mother as well as for their infant/child.
Objective: To assess the prevalence of chronic energy deficiency and associated factors among
lactating mother in pastoralist community of Guradhamole district, Somali Region, Ethiopia.
Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted on 458 lactating mothers
from February 27 to March 11, 2016. Simple random sampling was used to select kebeles and
systematic random sampling was used to select study unity. Epi-data version 3.02 and SPSS
version 20 were used for data entry and analysis respectively. Both bivariate and multivariate
analysis were performed.
Result: The result of the study showed a high prevalence of chronic energy deficiency, from the
total of 458 lactating mothers who were included in the study, 159(34.7%) of them were chronic
energy deficient, Of this , 130(81.8%)of them were mildly thin, 25(15.7%) of them were
moderately thin and 4(2.5%)of them were severely thin. Multivariate regression analysis shows
that the significant factors of chronic energy deficiency were husband’s occupation (AOR=.317,
95%_CI.138-.729), family size (AOR= 2.595, 95%_CI 1.358-4.961), monthly income
(AOR=0.14, 95%_CI .104-.348), condition of drinking water source (AOR=3.098, 95%_CI
1.321-7.267) and time taken to fetch water (AOR=2.712, 95%_CI 1.466-5.019).
Conclusion: The prevalence of chronic energy deficiency was high among lactating mothers
which indicates that the nutritional situation in the study area is critical. Husband’s occupation,
family size, monthly income, unprotected water and time taken to fetch water could have an
influence in chronic energy deficiency among lactating mothers. So, efforts should be made on
these factors to decrease chronic energy deficiency among lactating mothers.
