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Child undernutrition in Kenya: trend analyses from 1993 to 2008–09
Authors: Dennis J Matanda, Maurice B Mittelmark, and Dorcus Mbithe D Kigaru
Source: BMC Pediatrics, 14:5, doi:10.1186/1471-2431-14-5
Topic(s): Child health
Nutrition
Country: Africa
  Kenya
Published: JAN 2014
Abstract: Background Research on trends in child undernutrition in Kenya has been hindered by the challenges of changing criteria for classifying undernutrition, and an emphasis in the literature on international comparisons of countries’ situations. There has been little attention to within-country trend analyses. This paper presents child undernutrition trend analyses from 1993 to 2008–09, using the 2006 WHO criteria for undernutrition. The analyses are decomposed by child’s sex and age, and by maternal education level, household Wealth Index, and province, to reveal any departures from the overall national trends. Methods The study uses the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey data collected from women aged 15–49 years and children aged 0–35 months in 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008–09. Logistic regression was used to test trends. Results The prevalence of wasting for boys and girls combined remained stable at the national level but declined significantly among girls aged 0–35 months (p?
Web: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2431/14/5