Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

CiteULike is a free service for managing and discovering scholarly references - click here to get started.

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
1010539509332063v1
21/2/144    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Singh, G.C. P.
Right arrow Articles by Connell, F. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Singh, G.C. P.
Right arrow Articles by Connell, F. A.
Social Bookmarking
 Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Article

Factors Associated With Underweight and Stunting Among Children in Rural Terai of Eastern Nepal

G.C. Pramod Singh, MA, MPH*, Manju Nair, MBBS, MPH, Ruth B. Grubesic, DrPH, and Frederick A. Connell, MD, MPH

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: gharti_pr{at}yahoo.com.


   Abstract
Malnutrition continues to affect a large proportion of children in the developing world. The authors undertook this study to identify biologic, socioeconomic, and health care factors associated with underweight and stunting in young children in an the eastern Tarai (plains) district of Nepal. Data were collected via questionnaires from mothers of 443 children aged 6 to 36 months in Sunsari district. Multistage cluster sampling was used to select villages and children. Anthropometric measurements were made on both children and their mothers. Logistic regression was used to measure the independent (adjusted) effect of risk and protective factors on the odds of underweight or stunting. More than half (53.3%) of the children were found to be underweight (<2 standard deviations weight for age below reference median) and more than one third (36.6%) had stunting (<2 standard deviations height for age below reference median). Low maternal body mass index, child’s age, higher birth order, and lower standard of living score were strong predictors of underweight, whereas mother’s education >5 years and participation in vitamin A and nutritional programs were protective. Infant age, low maternal body mass index, and low standard of living score were significant risk factors for stunting, whereas mother’s education >5 years was strongly protective. These results suggest that underweight and stunting are the result of a nexus of biological, socioeconomic, and health care factors.

First published on February 26, 2009, doi:10.1177/1010539509332063

Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health 2009;21:144.

A more recent version of this article appeared on April 1, 2009


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Asia Pac J Public HealthHome page
Wah Yun Low
Promoting Public Health Research and Collaboration in the Asia-Pacific Region
Asia Pac J Public Health, April 1, 2009; 21(2): 125 - 127.
[PDF]