Growth velocity of young children in Sidama Region, Ethiopia: a cohort study

Background:  Optimal growth in childhood is crucial for overall health and well-being. Attained growth measures are widely used references of child growth and show cumulative effects of all events in the past. Although these growth references are essential indicators of nutritional status, one cannot take timely corrective action before the occurrence of undernutrition. Modelling growth velocity has become an attractive approach for the early identification of growth problems and their potential risk factors. However, evidence on the weight and height growth velocity of children under five is scarce, particularly in areas where seasonal food shortage and insecurity are prevalent.

Design and study area:  Both retrospective and prospective cohort designs will used. The study areas are in the Boricha and Bilate districts of the Sidama region, Ethiopia. In addition to the linear mixed effect and logistic regression, we will employ the SITAR model for growth curve analysis using the sitar package in R.

The study objectives are:

• To analyse the height and weight velocity curve of children under the age of five
• To determine the association of season, food insecurity, dietary diversity, and growth velocity of children under the age of five
• To assess the ability of early growth velocity to predict future risk of single or multiple anthropometric growth deficit among children under the age of five

Publications:

Conference presentations

Peer reviewed publications