title: Estimated prevalence and predictors of undernutrition among children aged 5-17 months in Yerevan, Armenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Child undernutrition is a serious public health problem in many low- and middle-income countries. Data on child undernutrition prevalence and its risk factors in Armenia are limited. The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence and explore the predictors of undernutrition among children aged 5-17 months in Yerevan.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was cross-sectional and employed a review of the ambulatory charts of children selected through a multistage cluster sampling. This phase was followed by a case-control study. The cases were undernourished children identified during the record review and randomly matched with normally growing controls of the same age and gender from the same pool of records. Mothers of cases and controls participated in a telephone interview. The study used conditional logistic regression analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Yerevan, Armenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children aged 5-17 months residing in Yerevan, Armenia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Review of 570 ambulatory charts suggested the prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting among 5-17-month-old children in Yerevan to be 17·9 %, 7·3 % and 3·1 %, respectively. The case-control study of eighty-nine matched pairs identified four significant predictors of child undernutrition: family's socio-economic status score (P = 0·030), child's length at birth (P = 0·027), duration of predominant breast-feeding (P = 0·046) and food diversity score (P = 0·039).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The factors determining growth patterns of children in Yerevan are mostly behavioral and environmental, hence modifiable. Reducing poverty and inequalities in food availability, promoting breast-feeding and adequate complementary feeding, and ensuring optimal care before, during and after pregnancy are likely to help reduce child undernutrition in Yerevan, Armenia and societies with similar public health concerns.
authors.affiliation: College of Health Sciences, American University of Armenia, 40 Marshal Baghramian Avenue, Yerevan 0019, Armenia.
authors.forename: Lilit
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hovhannisyan
authors.affiliation: College of Health Sciences, American University of Armenia, 40 Marshal Baghramian Avenue, Yerevan 0019, Armenia.
authors.forename: Anahit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Demirchyan
authors.affiliation: College of Health Sciences, American University of Armenia, 40 Marshal Baghramian Avenue, Yerevan 0019, Armenia.
authors.forename: Varduhi
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Petrosyan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001136:Armenia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001827:Body Height; D001942:Breast Feeding; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011203:Poverty; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012923:Social Class; D013851:Thinness / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019282:Wasting Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult