Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39833945›Full record

ArticleBMC nutrition2025

Socio-economic and demographic determinants of undernutrition among 6-59 months old children living in Malawian stunting hotspots: a cross-sectional community study.

Patrick Ndovie, Smith G Nkhata, Numeri Geresomo, Robert Fungo, Vincent Nyau, Justice Munthali

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Article in BMC nutrition, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

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2citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Patrick NdovieDepartment of Human Nutrition and Health, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), Bunda Campus, P. O. Box 219, Lilongwe, Malawi. pndovie@luanar.ac.mw.
Smith G NkhataDepartment of Agriculture and Food Systems, Natural Resources College, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, P. O. Box 143, Lilongwe, Malawi.
Numeri GeresomoDepartment of Human Nutrition and Health, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), Bunda Campus, P. O. Box 219, Lilongwe, Malawi.
Robert FungoSchool of Food Technology, Nutrition & Bioengineering, Makerere University, P. O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
Vincent NyauSchool of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Food Science & Nutrition, University of Zambia, P. O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia.
Justice MunthaliAlliance of Bioversity International & CIAT, Agricultural Research Station, P. O. Box 158, Lilongwe, Malawi.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMalnutrition is a global burden, with 171 million under-five children stunted and 45% of child deaths linked to it. Despite high undernutrition such as stunting in Mchinji, Mangochi, and Mzimba, no study has focused on all three hot spots. This study examined socio-economic and demographic determinants of undernutrition among children aged 6-59 months, offering insights to guide targeted interventions in these areas.

methodsThis cross-sectional study of 1,275 caregiver-child pairs from Mzimba, Mchinji, and Mangochi used multi-stage sampling. Data were analyzed with Stata 17.0, employing descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression to explore associations and identify determinants of malnutrition in children aged 6-59 months based on WHO Z-scores.

resultsThe study identified socio-demographic factors influencing wasting, underweight, and stunting among children aged 6-59 months. Wasting was linked to occupation, marital status, household size, religious affiliation, and vaccination, with protective factors including farming (AOR = 0.023), business (AOR = 0.001), being single (AOR = 0.034), and full vaccination (AOR = 0.146), while Muslim affiliation increased odds (AOR = 71.284). Underweight was associated with occupation and household type, with higher risks in business (AOR = 9.408) and single-parent households (AOR = 20.929) but protection in smaller households (AOR = 0.596). Stunting was related to unemployment (AOR = 2.339) and full vaccination (AOR = 1.472). Education and income showed no significant association with stunting.

conclusionSocio-demographic factors significantly influenced wasting, underweight, and stunting in children, highlighting the need for targeted interventions on livelihoods, vaccination, and household conditions to reduce undernutrition and inform policy and program development.

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CaregiversMalnutritionOdds ratioReligious affiliationsUnemployment

Identifiers

PMID39833945
PMCPMC11745028

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.