Prevalence and predictors of Malnutrition among school going adolescents of Kotli Sattian District Rawalpindi

Abstract

Introduction: Malnutrition is one of the major health problems among the adolescents. Prevalence of malnutrition is more common in developing countries which are yet facing shortage of food due to different reasons in different regions of the world. Malnutrition among adolescents is affected by several factors. These factors are although studied in many parts of the world but these are understudied in Pakistan. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and its predictors among the adolescent population of the Kotli Sattian, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Material and Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among the school going adolescents of the Kotli Sattian, Rawalpindi in approximately 6 months from October 2021 to February 2022. Simple random sampling and a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria was used to enroll participants. A self-adapted questionnaire was used to collect data after taking ethical approval from institutional research board and informed consent from the participants. Chi- square test was applied to assess the association between Malnutrition and various included factors. Multinominal logistic regression was also applied to determine the prediction of malnutrition by various factors through odds ratio. Results: The prevalence of underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity among school going adolescents of study population was 77(22.92%), 117(34.82%), 90(26.79%), and 52(15.48%) respectively. The association between nutritional status and gender, age group, school type, hygiene conditions recent infection history, filtered water use, number of meals per day, daily breakfast, number of siblings, monthly income, mother education, father education, mother occupation, awareness of parents about malnutrition, and family type was statistically significant. iv The factors including male gender(OR=3.80, 95%CI=0.11-13.34, p=0.04), mid adolescent age group (OR=4.30, 95%CI=0.40-8.04, p=0.03), recent infection (OR=6.30, 95%CI=4.50-8.10, p=0.009), less number of meals 2times or 3-4times (OR=8.20, 95%CI=1.50-7.20, p=0.01) or (OR=7.50, 95%CI=1.60-8.40, p=0.04), low monthly income up to 20,000Pkr (OR=10.70, 95%CI=2.76-11.10, p=0.02), mother (OR=3.18, 95%CI=2.78-3.64, p=0.03) and father (OR=6.70, 95%CI=5.90-8.90, p=0.04) illiterate educational status were found to predispose students to become underweight significantly. Those factors that increased the possibility of becoming overweight were school type (OR=2.10, 95%CI=1.29-2.90, p=0.04), primary education status of mothers (OR=1.30, 95%CI=0.90-2.10, p=0.01), whereas, factors for increasing the probability of getting obese, were included private school type (OR=1.89, 95%CI=1.10-2.89, p=0.03), ,mother educational status of illiterate (OR=1.67, 95%CI=0.40-1.99, p=0.01), and nuclear family (OR=1.87, 95%CI=1.50-3.06, p=0.02). Conclusion: The prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity was significant among study participants. Several factors including gender, age, school type, hygiene condition, recent infection, filtered water use, number of meals, daily breakfast habit, number of siblings, monthly income, parental education, mother occupation, parental awareness about malnutrition and family type were found to predispose adolescents to the malnutrition. Policy makers should make integrated policies for the prevention of malnutrition among adolescents. Key Words: Prevalence, Malnutrition, Predictors, School Going, Adolescent, Kotli Sattian, Rawalpindi. v