Risk Factors Associated with Malnutrition among Children Under-Five Years in Sub-Saharan African Countries: A Scoping Review

Phillips Edomwonyi Obasohan, Stephen J. Walters, Richard Jacques and Khaled Khatab
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Phillips Edomwonyi Obasohan: School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DA, UK
Stephen J. Walters: School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DA, UK
Richard Jacques: School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DA, UK
Khaled Khatab: Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S10 2BP, UK

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 23, 1-23

Abstract: Background/Purpose : Malnutrition is a significant global public health burden with greater concern among children under five years in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). To effectively address the problem of malnutrition, especially in resource-scarce communities, knowing the prevalence, causes and risk factors associated with it are essential steps. This scoping review aimed to identify the existing literature that uses classical regression analysis on nationally representative health survey data sets to find the individual socioeconomic, demographic and contextual risk factors associated with malnutrition among children under five years of age in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). Methods : The electronic databases searched include EMBASE (OVID platform), PubMed (MEDLINE), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Scopus, Web of Science (WoS) and Cochrane Library. Only papers written in the English language, and for which the publication date was between 1 January 1990 and 31 July 2020, were included. Results : A total of 229 papers were identified, of which 26 were studies that have been included in the review. The risk factors for malnutrition identified were classified as child-related, parental/household-related and community or area-related. Conclusions : Study-interest bias toward stunting over other anthropometric indicators of malnutrition could be addressed with a holistic research approach to equally address the various dimension of the anthropometric indicators of malnutrition in a population.

Keywords: malnutrition; stunting; underweight; wasting; overweight; anthropometric indices; undernutrition; overnutrition; under five; Sub-Saharan Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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