title: Malnutrition determinants in young children from Burkina Faso.
abstract: Childhood malnutrition remains a major challenge to public health in poor countries. Data on malnutrition determinants in African children are scarce. A cross-sectional survey was performed in eight villages of Burkina Faso in June 2009, including 460 children aged 6-31 months. Demographic, socioeconomic, parasitological, clinical and anthropometric characteristics were collected. The main outcome variable was weight-for-length (WFL) z-score (i.e. wasting). A multiple regression model identified village, age group, religion and the presence of younger siblings as significantly associated with wasting. Villages differed in their mean WFL z-score by up to one unit. Compared with younger children, the mean WFL z-score of children aged 24-35 months was 0.63 units higher than the WFL z-score in younger children. This study confirms the still unacceptable high level of malnutrition in young children of rural West Africa and supports the fact that childhood malnutrition is a complex phenomenon highly influenced by contextual variables.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, University Hospital Heidelberg, INF 324, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beiersmann
authors.forename: Justo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bermejo Lorenzo
authors.forename: Mamadou
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bountogo
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tiendrébeogo
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gabrysch
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yé
authors.forename: Albrecht
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jahn
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Müller
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002050:Burkina Faso / Q000453:epidemiology; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003469:Culture; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012067:Religion; D012307:Risk Factors; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Africa; children; cross-sectional survey; determinants; malnutrition