Effects of Nutritional Status on Neurodevelopment of Children Aged Under Five Years in East Gojjam, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021: A Community-Based Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Background Characteristics of Mothers/Primary Caregivers of Children Under Five Years in East Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021 (N=380)

Variables	Categories	Frequency	Percentage
Residence	Urban	215	56.6%
	Rural	165	43.4%
Mother’s educational status	No formal education	229	60.3%
	Had formal education	151	39.7%
Father’s educational status	Had formal education	227	59.7%
	No formal education	153	40.3%
Marital status	Never married	10	2.6%
	Currently married	351	92.4%
	Divorced	17	4.5%
	Widowed	2	0.5%
Household size	2–5 person	266	70%
	≥6 person	114	30%
Household head	Father	349	91.8%
	Mother	31	8.2%
Monthly household income (ETB)	<1500	102	26.8%
	1500–3000	181	47.6%
	>3000	97	25.5%
Religion	Orthodox	227	59.7%
	Muslim	120	31.6%
	Protestant	33	8.7%
Had ANC visits for the index child	Yes	313	82.4%
	No	67	17.6%
Mother’s health status during pregnancy of index child	Normal	276	72.6%
	Experienced repeated illness	104	27.4%

Abbreviations: ANC, Ante Natal Care; ETB, Ethiopian Birr.

Table 2 Sociodemographic Characteristics and Selected Child Feeding Practices of Under-FiveChildren in East Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021 (N=380)

Variables	Categories	Frequency	Percentage
Child’s sex	Male	194	51.1%
	Female	186	48.9%
Child’s age in months	≤24 months (6–24 months)	198	52.1%
	>24 months (25–59 months)	182	47.9%
Birth order of the index child	1	109	28.7%
	2–4	197	51.8%
	>4	74	19.5%
Birth interval of the index child	Less than 2 years	160	42.1%
	Every 2 years	61	16.1%
	Greater than 2 years	159	41.8%
History of any acute health problems, just 2 weeks preceding the survey	Yes	268	70.5%
	No	112	29.5%
Practiced feeding of pre-lacteals	Yes	133	35%
	No	247	65%
Practiced feeding of the first breast milk	Yes	291	76.6%
	No	89	23.4%
Time initiated the first breastfeed following birth	Immediately	259	68.2%
	After 1 hour	121	31.8%
Age complementary feeding initiated	Before 4 months	5	1.3%
	Between 4 and 6 months	307	80.8%
	After 6 months	68	17.9%

Table 3 Nutritional Status Indices of Under-Five Children in East Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021 (N=380)

Variables	Categories	Frequency	Percentage
Stunting status	Normal	242	63.7%
	Stunted	138	36.3%
Wasting status	Normal	326	85.8%
	Wasted	54	14.2%
Underweight status	Normal	303	79.7%
	Underweight	77	20.3%

Table 4 Proportion of Nutritional Status Indices on Developmentally Delayed Under-Five Children in East Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021 (N=380)

		Developmental Status
Nutritional Status Indices		Normally Developed	Developmentally Delayed
WHZ	Normal, n (%)	261 (88.8%)	65 (75.6%)
	Wasted, n (%)	33 (11.2%)	21 (24.4%)
HAZ	Normal	201 (68.4%)	41 (47.7%)
	Stunted	93 (31.6%)	45 (52.3%)
WAZ	Normal	249 (84.7%)	54 (62.8%)
	Underweight	45 (15.3%)	32 (37.2%)

Table 5 Developmental Status by Domains of Neurodevelopment Among Children Aged Under Five Years Old in East Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021 (N=380)

Domains of Development	Needs Further Evaluations (High Risk of Developmental Delay)	Requires Monitoring (Low Risk)	Normally Grown
Communication	18 (4.7%)	52 (13.7%)	310 (81.6%)
Gross motor	15 (3.9%)	40 (10.5%)	325 (85.5%)
Fine motor	16 (4.2%)	45 (11.8%)	319 (83.9%)
Problem solving	25 (6.6%)	50 (13.2%)	305 (80.3%)
Personal social	30 (7.9%)	60 (15.8%)	290 (76.3%)

Table 6 Binary Logistic Regression Analysis Result Showing the Association Between Developmental Status of Under-Five Children and Their Nutritional Status Indices and Other Selected Variables in East Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021 (N=380)

Variables	Categories	Developmental Status		COR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)
		Delayed	Well-Developed
Residence	Urban	52	163	1.23 (0.75, 2.00)	1.02 (0.58, 1.78)
	Rural	34	131	1	1
Mother’s educational status	No formal education	52	177	1.01 (0.62, 1.65)	1.04 (0.57, 1.88)
	Had formal education	34	117	1	1
Father’s educational status	Had formal education	51	176	1	1
	No formal education	35	118	1.02 (0.63, 1.67)	0.81 (0.45, 1.44)
Household size	2–5 person	59	207	1	1
	≥6 person	27	87	1.09 (0.65, 1.83)	1.15 (0.62, 2.13)
Household head	Father	81	268	1.57 (0.59, 4.23)	1.56 (0.49, 4.86)
	Mother	5	26	1	1
Monthly household income (ETB)	<1500	24	78	0.89 (0.47, 1.69)	0.82 (0.39, 1.75)
	1500–3000	37	144	0.74 (0.41, 1.32)	0.74 (0.38, 1.42)
	>3000	25	72	1	1
Had ANC visits for the index child	Yes	70	243	1	1
	No	16	51	1.09 (0.59, 2.03)	0.86 (0.42, 1.73)
Mother’s health status during pregnancy of index child	Normal	49	227	1	1
	Experienced repeated illness	37	67	2.56 (1.54, 4.25)**	2.43 (1.38, 4.28)*
Child’s sex	Male	42	152	0.89 (0.55, 1.44)	0.63 (0.36, 1.11)
	Female	44	142	1	1
Birth interval of the index child	Less than 2 years	50	110	2.22 (1.31, 3.78)*	2.78 (1.52, 5.09)**
	Every 2 years	9	52	0.85 (0.37, 1.92)	0.94 (0.39, 2.29)
	Greater than 2 years	27	132	1	1
Stunting status	Normal	41	201	1	1
	Stunted	45	93	2.37 (1.45, 3.87)**	2.61 (1.41, 4.84)*
Wasting status	Normal	65	261	1	1
	Wasted	21	33	2.56 (1.39, 4.71)*	3.68 (1.61, 8.37)*
Underweight status	Normal	54	249	1	1
	Underweight	32	45	3.28 (1.91, 5.63)**	1.83 (0.96, 3.49)***

Notes: *P <0.005; **P <0.001; ***P = 0.065 (marginal).

Abbreviations: AOR, Adjusted Odds Ratio; COR, Crude Odds Ratio.