Research rticle
Determinants of Child Stunting, Wasting, and Underweight:
Evidence from 2017 to 2018 Pakistan Demographic and
Health Survey
MaryamSiddiqa ,
1
GulzarH.Shah ,
2
TiliciaL.Mayo-Gamble ,
3
andAmberZubair
4
1
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Room# 228, Maryam Block, Sector H•10 International Islamic University Islamabad,
Islamabad, Pakistan
2
Department of Health Policy and Community Health, Jiann•Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University,
P.O. Box 8015 Statesboro, G 30460, Statesboro, Georgia
3
Department of Health Policy and Community Health Georgia Southern University, P.O. Box 8015 Statesboro, G 30460,
Statesboro, Georgia
4
International Islamic University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
Correspondence should be addressed to Tilicia L. Mayo•Gamble; tmayogamble@georgiasouthern.edu
Received 24 February 2022; Revised 23 December 2022; Accepted 15 February 2023; Published 4 March 2023
Academic Editor: Rajesh Kamath
Copyright © 2023 Maryam Siddiqa et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
Child malnutrition persists in low•resource countries such as Pakistan, indicating an urgent need for interventions and policies
aimed to address this critical population health issue. Te World Health Organization Global Target 2025 includes the reduction
of malnourishment in the form of stunting, wasting, and low weight. Tis study aims to examine the prevalence of factors
associated with three measures of child malnutrition, i.e., stunting, wasting, and low weight in Pakistan. Tis study uses
a secondary data analysis design based on data from Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (2017•18) that used a two•stage
cluster sampling approach. National level data covering urban and rural areas were used for this study consisting of 4,226 children
less than 5 years of age. Univariate and multivariable analyses using logistic regression models were conducted. Over 23% of the
children were underweight, 8.0% sufered wasting, and 37.7% were stunted. Children with small size at birth (<45.7cm), those
who were average in size (45.7 to 60 cm) at birth were less likely to be stunted (AOR, 0.4890) and underweight (AOR, 0.538).
Childrenwithlargesizeatbirth(>60cm)werealsolesslikelytobestunted(AOR,0.288)andunderweight(AOR,0.538).Children
who consumed fresh milk were less likely to be classifed as wasted (AOR, 0.524) than those children who did not consume fresh
milk.Techildreninhigh•andmiddle•economicstatusfamilieswerelesslikelytobestunted,underweight,orwasted.Childrenof
mothers who had secondary and higher education were less likely to be stunted (AOR, 0.584) and were less likely to be underweight
(AOR, 0.668) than illiterate mothers’ children. Children of working mothers were less likely to be wasted compared to children of
nonworking mothers (AOR, 0.287). Maternal BMI is also inversely associated with being underweight because overweight and obese
mothers were less likely to have underweight children (AOR, 0.585). Our fndings refect a need to design targeted public health
policies and community•based education that emphasize the mother’s education on nutrition health and provide socioeconomic
resources that enable mothers to provide dietary needs that prevent malnutrition.
1.Introduction
Undernutrition is a persistent global public health issue that
contributes to the physical, mental, and cognitive decline of
children in low•resource countries [1]. Proper nourishment
is necessary for mental and physical development in a child’s
early years of life [2]. Malnourished children are more likely
to die from illnesses such as malaria, diarrhea pneumonia,
and measles than children who receive adequate nutrition
[3]. Te most common forms of undernutrition are protein•
Hindawi
Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 2023, Article ID 2845133, 12 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/2845133