Trends and Predictors of underweight among under-five children in Ethiopia, based on Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey 2005 -2016. Multivariable Decomposition analysis

Abstract Background Underweight is one of the paramount major worldwide health problems, and it touches a large number of population from infancy to old age. This study aimed to analyze the trends and predictors of change in underweight among under-five children in Ethiopia Method The data for this study were accessed from three Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys data set 2005, 2011 and 2016. The trend was examined separately for the periods 2005–2011, 2005-2016, and 2011-2016. Multivariate decomposition analysis of change in underweight was employed to answer the major research question of this study. The technique employed the output from the logistic regression model to parcel out the observed difference in underweight into components, and STATA 14 was utilized for data management and analysis. Result Among children in Ethiopia the prevalence of underweight declined from 38% in 2005 to 25% in 2016. The decomposition analysis indicated that almost half of the overall change in underweight was due to difference in characteristics. Change in the composition of parental education, wealth index, duration of breastfeeding, respondents’ occupation, was the major contributor for the decline of underweight, while the age of child and presence of diarrhea were contributors for the rise of underweight in Ethiopia. Conclusion underweight shows a remarkable decline over the last decades in Ethiopia. Change in composition of Birth size, duration of breastfeeding, household wealth quantile (richer) and husband/partner primary education are attributable to the decline of underweight.