title: Acute malnutrition among under-five children in Faryab, Afghanistan: prevalence and causes.
abstract: Acute malnutrition affects more than 50 million under-five (U5) children, causing 8.0% of global child deaths annually. The prevalence of acute malnutrition (wasting) among U5 children in Afghanistan was 9.5% nationally and 3.7% in Faryab province in 2013. A cross-sectional study was conducted for 600 households in Faryab to find the prevalence and causes of acute malnutrition. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using a logistic model. Demographic results of this study showed that 54.0% of the household heads and 92.3% of the mothers had no education. Three-fourths of households had a monthly income ≤ 250 USD. According to the measurement of weight for height Z-score (WHZ), 35.0% (210/600) of the children had acute malnutrition (wasting, WHZ < -2). In more than half of the households, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions were poor. When adjusted, a significant association of acute malnutrition among U5 children was found with the education level of household heads (OR=1.49; 95% CI, 1.02-2.17), age of household heads (OR=2.01; 95% CI, 1.21-3.35), income (OR=1.66; 95% CI, 1.04-2.27), education level of mothers (OR=2.21; 95% CI, 1.00-4.88), age of children (OR=1.99; 95% CI, 1.32-2.93), history of children with diarrhea in the last two weeks of data collection (OR=1.57; 95% CI, 1.10-2.27), feeding frequency (OR=3.01; 95% CI, 1.21-7.46), water sources (OR=1.89; 95% CI, 1.26-2.83), and iodized salt (OR=0.59; 95% CI, 0.39-0.88). The present study indicated that an increase in education level of parents, household income, and quality of WASH would result in a significant decrease in prevalence of wasting among U5 children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Healthcare Administration, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: Muhammad Kamel
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Frozanfar
authors.affiliation: Department of Healthcare Administration, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshitoku
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.affiliation: Department of Healthcare Administration, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: Eiko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Healthcare Administration, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: Joshua A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Reyer
authors.affiliation: Former Minister of Public Health, Ministry of Public Health, Kabul, Afghanistan.
authors.forename: Suraya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dalil
authors.affiliation: Department of ENT, Faculty of Medicine, Balkh University, Balkh, Afghanistan.
authors.forename: Abdullah Darman
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Rahimzad
authors.affiliation: Department of ENT, Faculty of Medicine, Balkh University, Balkh, Afghanistan.
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hamajima
mesh_terms: D000346:Afghanistan; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence
keywords: Afghanistan; acute malnutrition; cause; incidence; under-five children