Household Food Insecurity Predicts Childhood Undernutrition: A Cross-Sectional Study in West Oromia (Ethiopia)

Table 4

Logistic model examining associations between household food access situations and undernutrition of children in the study setting.

Parameters	Stunting			Underweight			Wasting			Undernourished (combined)^d
	n (%)	AOR (95% CI)	value	n (%)	AOR (95% CI)	value	n (%)	AOR (95% CI)	value	n (%)	AOR (95% CI)	value
Household food access category
Food secure	25 (4.8)	1		10 (1.9)	1		10 (1.9)	1		33 (6.3)	1
Mild household food insecurity	42 (8.0)	0.90 (0.52–1.56)	0.71	15 (2.9)	0.77 (0.33–1.78)	0.54	17 (3.2)	0.79 (0.35–1.80)	0.57	56 (10.7)	0.54 (0.28–1.06)	0.08
Moderate household food insecurity	18 (3.4)	2.09 (1.02–4.28)	0.04^a	11 (2.1)	4.73 (1.81–12.35)	0.002^b	6 (1.1)	1.42 (0.46–4.36)	0.54	23 (4.4)	0.46 (0.25–0.84)	0.01^e
Mothers usual feeding practices
Appropriate child feeding practice	69 (13.1)	1		29 (5.5)	1		28 (5.3)	1		91 (17.3)	1
Inappropriate child feeding practice	16 (3.0)	0.95 (0.51–1.77)	0.89	7 (1.3)	1.16 (0.47–2.87)	0.75	5 (1.0)	0.58 (0.21–1.56)	0.28	21 (4.0)	0.86 (0.49–1.50)	0.60
Mothers attended formal education
Yes, had attended formal education	82 (15.6)	1		32 (6.1)	1		29 (5.5)	1		105 (20.0)	1
No, can’t read and write	3 (0.6)	0.83 (0.23–2.97)	0.78	4 (0.8)	3.94 (1.20–12.86)	0.02^b	4 (0.8)	3.34 (1.06–10.55)	0.04^c	7 (1.3)	1.77 (0.68–4.59)	0.24
Mothers report of paid work status
Yes, had paid work	9 (1.7)	1		2 (0.4)	1		2 (0.4)	1		10 (1.9)	1
No, had no paid work	76 (14.5)	1.57 (0.73–3.37)	0.25	34 (6.5)	2.55 (0.58–11.26)	0.22	31 (5.9)	2.90 (0.68–12.4)	0.15	102 (19.4)	2.06 (1.00–4.23)	0.05^e
Child health condition
Healthy	71 (13.5)	1		35 (6.7)	1		30 (5.7)	1		95 (18.1)	1
Sick (recovering from acute illness)	14 (2.7)	1.45 (0.71–2.99)	0.31	1 (0.2)	0.10 (0.01–0.78)	0.03^b	3 (0.6)	0.76 (0.22–2.62)	0.67	17 (3.2)	1.25 (0.64–2.43)	0.51
Child age
6–11 months of age	12 (2.3)	1		8 (1.5)	1		12 (2.3)	1		24 (4.6)	1
12–23 month of age	73 (13.9)	5.20 (2.74–9.89)	<0.0001^a	28 (5.3)	2.48 (1.08–5.68)	0.03^b	21 (4.0)	1.09 (0.51–2.32)	0.82	88 (16.8)	3.15 (1.92–5.17)	<0.0001^e

^aPredictors of stunting—child age and moderate household food insecurity. ^bPredictors of underweight—child age, maternal education, child health, and moderate household food insecurity. ^cPredictors for wasting—maternal education. ^ePredictors for undernourished—child age, maternal work, and moderate household food insecurity. ^dUndernourished children—means, a composite prevalence of children categorized to one or more indices (stunting, underweight, and wasting).