Undernutrition among Pregnant Women in Rural Communities in Southern Ethiopia

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Pregnant Women in Rural Communities in Southern Ethiopia, 2020 (n=376)

Variables	Category	n	%
Residence	Rural	317	84.3
	Urban	59	15.7
Age, years	15–24	221	58.8
	25–34	131	34.8
	35–44	24	6.4
Religion	Muslim	245	65.2
	Orthodox	2	0.5
	Protestant	129	34.3
Ethnicity	Oromo	365	97.1
	Others*	11	2.9
Marital status	Married	375	99.7
	Widowed	1	0.3
Education	Unable to read or write	205	54.5
	Able to read and write (but no schooling)	9	2.4
	Primary school	125	33.2
	Secondary school	30	8
	College and above	7	1.9
Family size	≥5	171	45.5
	<5	205	54.5
Wealth index	Poor	335	89.1
	Medium	33	8.8
	Rich	8	2.1

Note: *Amhara, Gurage and Tigre

Table 2 Reproductive, Health, Environmental, and Behavioral Characteristics of Pregnant Women in rural Communities in Southern Ethiopia, 2020 (n=376)

Variables	Category	n	%
Age at first pregnancy, years	<20	295	78.5
	≥20	81	21.5
Parity (number of live births)	>3	128	34.0
	1–3	156	41.5
	0	92	24.5
Gravidity (number of pregnancy)	≥5	130	34.6
	3–4	108	28.7
	≤2	138	36.7
History of abortion	Yes	40	10.6
	No	336	89.4
GA, weeks	≤28	214	56.9
	>28	162	43.1
Pregnancy intention	Unintended	216	57.4
	Intended	160	42.6
ANC visits	No	82	21.8
	Yes	294	78.2
Illness during current pregnancy	Yes	100	26.6
	No	276	73.4
IFA supplementation	No	196	52.1
	Yes	180	47.9
Prenatal dietary counseling	No	273	72.6
	Yes	103	27.4
Participating in Women's HDA meetings	Yes	342	91.0
	No	34	9.0
Latrine possession	No	54	14.4
	Yes	322	85.6
Drinking-water source	Unprotected	271	72.1
	Protected	105	27.9
ITN possession	Yes	287	76.3
	No	89	23.7

Abbreviations: ANC, antenatal care; GA, gestational age; IFA, iron and folic acid; HAD, Health Development Army; ITN, insecticide-treated net.

Table 3 Dietary Characteristics of Pregnant Women in Rural Communities in Southern Ethiopia, 2020 (n=376)

Variables	Category	n	%
MDDW	<5	354	94.1
	≥5	22	5.9
Household food-security status	Food in-secure	145	38.6
	Food secure	231	61.4
Dining time at home	Last (after family eat)	177	47.1
	With family	173	46.0
	First (before family)	26	6.9
Ever skipping meals during this pregnancy	Yes	113	30.1
	No	263	69.9
Food aversion	Yes	78	20.7
	No	298	79.3

Abbreviation: MDDW, minimum dietary diversity for women.

Table 4 Factors Associated with Undernutrition among Pregnant Women in Rural Communities in Southern Ethiopia, 2020 (n=376)

Variables	Category	Undernutrition		COR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)
		Yes	No
		n (%)	n (%)
Age at first pregnancy, years	≥20	17 (21)	64 (79)	0.30 (0.17–0.54)	0.39 (0.21–0.76)*
	<20	138 (46.8)	157 (53.2)	1	1
Pregnancy intention	Unintended	104 (48)	112 (52)	1.98 (1.29–3.04)	2.06 (1.27–3.36)*
	Intended	51 (31.8)	109 (68.2)	1	1
Illness during current pregnancy	No	99 (35.8)	177 (64.2)	0.44 (0.28–0.70)	0.58 (0.33–1.02)
	Yes	56 (56)	44 (44)	1	1
Household food-security status	Food secure	66 (28.5)	165 (71.5)	0.25 (0.16–0.39)	0.26 (0.16–0.43)**
	Food in-secure	89 (61.4)	56 (38.6)	1	1
ITN possession	No	46 (51.7)	43 (48.3)	1.75 (1.08–2.82)	1.26 (0.69–2.28)
	Yes	109 (38)	178 (62)	1	1
Participating in HDA meetings	No	23 (67.6)	11 (32.4)	3.33 (1.57–7.05)	3.64 (1.51–8.77)*
	Yes	132 (38.6)	210 (61.4)	1	1
ANC visits	Yes	99 (36.3)	174 (63.7)	0.48 (0.30–0.76)	0.46 (0.27–0.78)*
	No	56 (54.4)	47 (45.6)	1	1
MDDW	≥5	4 (18.2)	18 (81.8)	0.29 (0.05–0.76)	0.24 (0.07–0.82)*
	<5	151 (42.6)	203 (57.4)	1	1
Gravidity	≥5	53 (40.8)	77 (59.2)	1	1
	3–4	55 (51)	53 (49)	0.75 (0.46–1.23)	0.91 (0.47–1.75)
	≤2	47 (34)	91 (66)	0.49 (0.29–0.83)	0.52 (0.27–1.01)

Notes:*p<0.05;**p<0.001. COR from bivariate model and AOR from multivariate model.

Abbreviations: MDDW, minimum dietary diversity for women; ITN, insecticide-treated net; HDA, Health Development Army.