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Risk Factors Associated with Malnutrition among Children Under-Five Years in Sub-Saharan African Countries: A Scoping

Phillips Edomwonyi Obasohan1,2, Stephen J Walters1, Richard Jacques1

  • 1School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DA, UK.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
|December 1, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Malnutrition in Sub-Saharan African children under five is a major concern. This review identified socioeconomic, demographic, and contextual risk factors, highlighting the need for a comprehensive research approach to address all malnutrition dimensions.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Global Health
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Malnutrition poses a significant global health challenge, particularly affecting children under five in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
  • Understanding prevalence, causes, and risk factors is crucial for effective interventions in resource-limited settings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To conduct a scoping review of literature on malnutrition risk factors in SSA children under five.
  • To identify studies using classical regression analysis on national health surveys.
  • To determine individual socioeconomic, demographic, and contextual risk factors.

Main Methods:

  • Searched EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library.
  • Included English-language papers published between January 1, 1990, and July 31, 2020.
  • Identified 26 relevant studies from an initial 229 papers.

Main Results:

  • Identified numerous risk factors for malnutrition.
  • Classified risk factors into child-related, parental/household-related, and community/area-related categories.

Conclusions:

  • Research often shows bias towards stunting, neglecting other malnutrition indicators.
  • A holistic research approach is needed to address all anthropometric dimensions of malnutrition.

Keywords:
Sub-Saharan Africaanthropometric indicesmalnutritionovernutritionoverweightstuntingunder fiveundernutritionunderweightwasting

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