Prevalence and predictors of stunting and underweight among children under 5 years in Tigray, Ethiopia: Implications for nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions

Understanding local drivers of malnutrition can help improve the design of agricultural interventions intended to reduce child stunting and underweight. This study reports the prevalence of child under-5 stunting and underweight from 10 rural districts in the Tigray region of Ethiopia; analyzes factors associated with child undernutrition; and presents implications for designing and selecting indicators for agricultural programs intended to improve nutrition. Overall prevalence of stunting and underweight was 40.0% and 34.6%, respectively. There was significant variation among the districts in the proportion of children classified as stunted and underweight (p > 0.05). Stunting rates ranged from 26.7% to 66.7%, underweight rates ranged from 13.3% to 63.3%. Geographic location (odd ratio [OR] = 1.99; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.81–4.87), no maternal history of eye issues (OR = 1.67; 95% CI, 1.01–2.78), and not owning a mobile phone (OR = 1.5; 95% CI, 0.91–2.49) were factors that increased odds of stunting. Geographic location (OR = 1.17; 95% CI, 0.5–2.76) and no maternal history of eye issues (OR = 1.71; 95% CI, 1.01–2.91) increased odds of underweight. The aggregate data masked influential social and behavioral factors affecting nutrition within certain districts and subgroups. Nutrition-specific approaches that target women and children and nutrition-sensitive approaches that strengthen local sources of resilience are needed to accelerate progress toward improved nutrition and reduce health disparities.