Birth weight and nutritional status of children under five in sub-Saharan Africa
Richard Gyan Aboagye1, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah2, Abdul-Aziz Seidu3,4
1Department of Family and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Hohoe, Ghana.
Insights
Low birth weight significantly increases the risk of undernutrition, including stunting, wasting, and underweight, in children under five in sub-Saharan Africa. Improving maternal and child nutrition is crucial for preventing undernutrition and achieving global health goals.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Global Health
- Nutritional Science
Background:
- Undernutrition is a leading cause of mortality in children under five globally.
- Low birth weight is a known risk factor for child morbidity and mortality, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Empirical data linking low birth weight to undernutrition in this region are limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the association between birth weight and the nutritional status of children under five in sub-Saharan Africa.
- To provide evidence for targeted interventions to combat child undernutrition in the region.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of a weighted sample of 110,497 children under five from 32 sub-Saharan African countries (Demographic and Health Surveys, 2010-2019).
- Prevalence reporting of low birth weight and nutritional status (stunting, wasting, underweight).
- Multilevel binary logistic regression to assess the association between birth weight and nutritional status, controlling for covariates.
Main Results:
- The prevalence of low birth weight was 5.4% across the region.
- Pooled prevalence rates for wasting, underweight, and stunting were 8.1%, 17.0%, and 31.3%, respectively.
- Children with low birth weight had significantly higher odds of being stunted (aOR=1.68), underweight (aOR=1.82), and wasted (aOR=1.35).
Conclusions:
- Low birth weight is a significant determinant of undernutrition in children under five in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Interventions to improve maternal and child nutrition are essential for reducing undernutrition and achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3.2.
- Prioritizing nutrition interventions, such as dietary modification counseling, is recommended for policymakers.
Introduction:
Over the past three decades, undernutrition has become a major cause of morbidity and mortality among children under five years globally. Low birth weight has been identified as a risk factor for child morbidity and mortality, especially among children under five years in sub-Saharan Africa. There is, however, a paucity of empirical literature establishing the association between low birth weight and undernutrition in sub-Saharan Africa. We examined the association between birth weight and nutritional status of children under five in sub-Saharan Africa.
Methods:
Our analyses were performed on a weighted sample of 110,497 children under five years from 32 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Data were obtained from the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted from 2010 to 2019. We reported the prevalence of low birth weight and nutritional status (stunting, wasting, and underweight) for all the 32 countries using percentages. We used multilevel binary logistic regression to examine the association between birth weight and nutritional status (stunting, wasting, and underweight) of the children, controlling for covariates. The results of the regression analyses were presented using adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.
Results:
The prevalence of low birth weight was 5.4%, with the highest (13.1%) and lowest (0.9%) reportedin South Africa and Chad, respectively. The pooled prevalence of wasting, underweight, and stunting were 8.1%, 17.0%, and 31.3%, respectively. Niger had the highest prevalence of wasting (21.5%) and underweight (37.1%), whereas Burundi had the highest prevalence of stunting (51.7%). We found that children with low birth weight were more likely to be stunted [aOR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.58-1.78], underweight [aOR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.70-1.94], and wasted [aOR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.20-1.38] after controlling for covariates.
Conclusion:
Our study has demonstrated that low birth weight is a key determinant of undernutrition among children under five in sub-Saharan Africa. Policymakers need to give special attention to improving the nutritional status of children under-five years in sub-Saharan Africa by implementing measures aimed at enhancing the weight of children. To accelerate progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 target of ending preventable deaths of newborns and under-five by 2030, it is imperative for countries in sub-Saharan Africa to intensify interventions aimed at improving maternal and child nutrition. Specific nutrition interventions such as dietary modification counselling should prioritized.
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