Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 12, 2025

Determining Soil-transmitted Helminth Infection Status and Physical Fitness of School-aged Children

Determining Soil-transmitted Helminth Infection Status and Physical Fitness of School-aged Children

Published on: August 22, 2012

A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol on stunting and its determinants among school-age children (6-14years)

Setognal Birara Aychiluhm¹, Abay Woday Tadesse¹, Kusse Urmale Mare²

¹College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Public Health, Samara University, Samara, Ethiopia.

|March 18, 2021

Insights

Stunting remains a significant public health issue for Ethiopian school-age children. This study aims to determine the national prevalence and key factors contributing to stunting in this population.

Area of Science:

Public Health
Pediatrics
Nutrition Science

Background:

Stunting is a prevalent public health concern affecting school-age children in Ethiopia.
Existing research on stunting in Ethiopia is fragmented, lacking a national pooled prevalence estimate and identified determinants.
This study addresses the need for comprehensive national data on childhood stunting in Ethiopia.

Purpose of the Study:

To estimate the national pooled prevalence of stunting among school-age children in Ethiopia.
To identify and analyze the key determinants associated with stunting in this demographic.
To provide evidence-based findings for informing public health interventions and nutritional strategies.

Main Methods:

A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020160625).
Comprehensive literature search of online databases (Medline, PubMed, Scopus, Science direct) and grey literature up to June 2020.
Quality assessment using Joanna Briggs Institute checklist and analysis following PRISMA guidelines, including heterogeneity testing and meta-regression.

Main Results:

The study protocol outlines the methodology for synthesizing existing evidence.
Statistical analyses including heterogeneity testing, subgroup analyses, meta-regression, and sensitivity analysis will be employed.
Publication bias will be assessed using funnel plots, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05.

Conclusions:

Estimating the national prevalence and determinants of stunting is crucial for effective public health policy in Ethiopia.
This study will provide a summarized, high-level evidence base to guide nutritional and healthcare interventions.
The findings are expected to inform targeted strategies to combat childhood stunting in the country.

Read full analysis

Abstract

Background:

In Ethiopia, stunting is a common public health problem among school-age children. Even though several studies were conducted in different parts of the country, the national pooled prevalence of stunting and its determinants not estimated. Therefore, this study intends to determine the pooled prevalence and determinants of stunting among school-age children in Ethiopia.

Methods:

This review protocol is registered at PROSPERO with Registration number: CRD42020160625. Online databases (Medline, PubMed, Scopus, and Science direct), Google, Google Scholar, and other grey literature will be used to search articles until June 2020. The quality assessment will be performed using the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist. The analysis will be organized and presented according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis. The presence of heterogeneity among studies will be examined using a chi-squared test on Cochran's Q statistic with a 5% level of statistical significance, subgroup analyses, and meta-regression will be performed to investigate sources of heterogeneity. To identify influential studies, sensitivity analysis will be conducted. Presence publication bias will be examined by observing funnel plots. The presence of a statistical association will be declared at a p-value <0.05 with the 95% CI.

Discussion:

Stunting is a major public health problem in Ethiopia, which affects the health of children. So, designing and implementing different nutritional strategies and promoting healthcare services is extremely mandatory to overcome stunting problems in the country. To understand this, estimating the prevalence of stunting at the national level and determining the pertinent common determinants using high-level evidence is fairly imperative. Therefore, this study will offer a summarizing finding.

More Related Videos

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

Determining Gender-Based Differences in Retinal and Choroidal Thickness in Underweight Individuals via Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography

Determining Gender-Based Differences in Retinal and Choroidal Thickness in Underweight Individuals via Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography

Published on: December 1, 2023

Related Concept Videos

Nature and Nurture

Nature and Nurture

Many human characteristics, like height, are shaped by both nature—in other words, by our genes—and by nurture, or our environment. For example, chronic stress during childhood inhibits the production of growth hormones and consequently reduces bone growth and height. Scientists estimate that 70-90% of variation in height is due to genetic differences among individuals, and 10-30% of variation in height is due to differences in the environments that individuals experience,...

Study Designs in Epidemiology

Study Designs in Epidemiology

Epidemiological study designs are fundamental tools for investigating the distribution, determinants, and control of health conditions in populations. They help researchers understand the relationships between exposures and outcomes, and they broadly fall into two categories: "observational" and "experimental" studies.
Observational studies are those where the researcher does not intervene but rather observes natural variations. They include cross-sectional, cohort, and...

Systematic Sampling Method

Systematic Sampling Method

Sampling is a technique to select a portion (or subset) of the larger population and study that portion (the sample) to gain information about the population. Data are the result of sampling from a population. The sampling method ensures that samples are drawn without bias and accurately represent the population. Because measuring the entire population in a study is not practical, researchers use samples to represent the population of interest.
Systematic sampling is one of the simplest methods...

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Universal coverage of vector control in low- and middle-income countries: Evidence from demographic and health survey data.

International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases·2026

Implementation of risk prediction and stratification approaches for ageing populations in Australian healthcare: a systematic review.

The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific·2026

Predicting lifetime cervical cancer screening among sexually active women in low- and middle-income countries using machine learning models: evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys.

AJOG global reports·2026

Pre- and Post-Evaluation of the Reach and Impact of a Nationwide Media Campaign to Promote Nutritional Services and Preventive Measures in Ethiopia: A Two-Round Mobile Survey.

Health science reports·2026

Geographic equity in multiple micronutrient deficiencies among women of reproductive age in Ethiopia: a spatial multiscale weighted regression analysis.

Scientific reports·2026

Diagnostic performance of the Dengue NS1 Ag Rapid Test during early-stage infections at epidemic-affected health care facilities in northeastern and eastern Ethiopia.

IJID regions·2026

See all related articles