Table 2.
Number and percentage of children aged<5 years with stunting, based on the WHO Child Growth Standards( 23 ), by household, maternal and child-related characteristics: Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 1995, 2001, 2006 and 2011( 4 , 13 , 19 , 20 )
| 1995 (n 4738) | 2001 (n 5576) | 2006 (n 2378) | 2011 (n 2055) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | |
| Overall HAZ | ||||||||
| Mean | −1·8 | −1·8 | −1·5 | −1·4 | ||||
| se | 0·027 | 0·023 | 0·035 | 0·039 | ||||
| Overall stunted | 2123 | 44·8 | 2466 | 44·2 | 883 | 37·1 | 681 | 33·2 |
| Region | *** | *** | *** | *** | ||||
| Central | 481 | 39·5 | 590 | 39·9 | 166 | 29·5 | 144 | 29·1 |
| Eastern | 545 | 43·1 | 713 | 41·4 | 238 | 37·3 | 184 | 28·5 |
| Northern | 426 | 46·5 | 410 | 42·6 | 199 | 38·7 | 122 | 32·2 |
| Western | 671 | 50·1 | 753 | 53·3 | 281 | 42·2 | 232 | 43·1 |
| Residence | *** | *** | *** | *** | ||||
| Urban | 147 | 27·6 | 168 | 31·4 | 67 | 25·9 | 52 | 18·7 |
| Rural | 1976 | 47·0 | 2298 | 45·6 | 817 | 38·5 | 629 | 35·4 |
| Wealth index | *** | *** | *** | *** | ||||
| Poorest | 521 | 50·2 | 615 | 49·2 | 211 | 42·4 | 159 | 35·7 |
| Poorer | 505 | 51·4 | 577 | 46·8 | 184 | 35·7 | 136 | 30·5 |
| Middle | 428 | 44·2 | 568 | 47·9 | 227 | 43·7 | 191 | 45·7 |
| Richer | 387 | 44·2 | 458 | 42·8 | 163 | 37·0 | 118 | 30·3 |
| Richest | 282 | 32·3 | 247 | 29·5 | 98 | 24·2 | 77 | 21·7 |
| Source of drinking-water | *** | *** | *** | |||||
| Improved | 940 | 41·3 | 1051 | 45·4 | 333 | 32·3 | 375 | 30·0 |
| Non-improved | 1177 | 48·0 | 1398 | 43·3 | 542 | 40·7 | 306 | 38·1 |
| Toilet facility | ||||||||
| Improved | 1692 | 44·1 | 1961 | 44·1 | 468 | 37·7 | 337 | 34·0 |
| Non-improved | 424 | 47·8 | 498 | 44·4 | 415 | 36·6 | 344 | 32·5 |
| No. of household members | ||||||||
| 1–5 | 845 | 45·0 | 1038 | 45·0 | 293 | 35·9 | 261 | 31·8 |
| 5–9 | 297 | 44·8 | 1132 | 44·5 | 478 | 38·6 | 332 | 33·9 |
| ≥10 | 981 | 44·7 | 296 | 40·7 | 113 | 34·9 | 88 | 34·7 |
| No. of under-five children in household | * | |||||||
| 1 | 514 | 43·8 | 586 | 43·2 | 187 | 33·7 | 138 | 29·2 |
| 2 | 902 | 44·2 | 1110 | 43·8 | 424 | 37·8 | 310 | 32·4 |
| ≥3 | 707 | 46·4 | 770 | 45·6 | 272 | 38·8 | 233 | 37·2 |
| Mother’s age (years) | ||||||||
| 15–19 | 209 | 43·0 | 152 | 44·4 | 40 | 37·6 | 46 | 39·0 |
| 20–30 | 1336 | 45·8 | 1529 | 44·2 | 508 | 37·4 | 404 | 34·1 |
| 31–49 | 578 | 43·2 | 784 | 44·3 | 335 | 36·7 | 231 | 30·8 |
| BMI/pregnancy status | *** | ** | * | ** | ||||
| Pregnant/postpartum | 427 | 49·6 | 624 | 46·3 | 231 | 39·0 | 185 | 38·8 |
| Thin | 174 | 51·7 | 158 | 46·7 | 72 | 35·7 | 50 | 29·9 |
| Normal | 1344 | 443 | 1413 | 44·6 | 479 | 38·8 | 358 | 34·2 |
| Overweight/obese | 161 | 34·2 | 247 | 37·2 | 99 | 28·5 | 89 | 24·8 |
| Marital status | ||||||||
| Single | 224 | 43·5 | 272 | 46·1 | 108 | 39·8 | 74 | 31·5 |
| Married | 1899 | 45·0 | 2194 | 44·0 | 776 | 36·8 | 608 | 33·4 |
| Highest educational level | *** | *** | *** | *** | ||||
| None | 704 | 48·0 | 707 | 51·9 | 214 | 40·8 | 101 | 39·8 |
| Primary | 1244 | 45·3 | 1548 | 43·1 | 595 | 39·0 | 467 | 34·7 |
| Secondary or higher | 175 | 33·4 | 211 | 33·7 | 74 | 22·5 | 111 | 24·7 |
| Work status | *** | *** | ** | *** | ||||
| Unemployed | 709 | 43·4 | 340 | 39·5 | 59 | 33·2 | 120 | 27·4 |
| Self-employed | 1156 | 48·8 | 1881 | 46·9 | 686 | 39·4 | 410 | 37·7 |
| Employed | 246 | 34·6 | 243 | 34·8 | 138 | 30·3 | 152 | 28·6 |
| Sex | *** | *** | ** | *** | ||||
| Male | 1122 | 48·6 | 1300 | 47·0 | 485 | 40·2 | 381 | 37·3 |
| Female | 1001 | 41·2 | 1165 | 41·5 | 398 | 34·0 | 300 | 29·1 |
| Child’s current age (months) | *** | *** | *** | *** | ||||
| 0–12 | 378 | 25·5 | 313 | 24·2 | 110 | 19·5 | 79 | 16·3 |
| 13–23 | 643 | 49·4 | 614 | 49·8 | 194 | 41·7 | 168 | 38·1 |
| 24–35 | 572 | 57·2 | 562 | 54·3 | 224 | 46·7 | 175 | 45·3 |
| 36–59 | 530 | 55·5 | 976 | 48·5 | 355 | 41·0 | 260 | 34·9 |
| Low birth size | *** | *** | *** | *** | ||||
| Yes | 466 | 51·9 | 532 | 51·2 | 224 | 48·2 | 189 | 42·6 |
| No | 1632 | 43·1 | 1904 | 42·6 | 654 | 34·4 | 471 | 30·2 |
| Birth order | ||||||||
| 1 | 416 | 46·3 | 390 | 43·9 | 132 | 36·7 | 114 | 34·4 |
| 2–3 | 682 | 44·3 | 797 | 43·7 | 258 | 38·0 | 218 | 32·7 |
| 4–5 | 438 | 43·2 | 594 | 45·1 | 208 | 36·3 | 139 | 30·5 |
| ≥6 | 586 | 45·7 | 685 | 44·2 | 286 | 37·2 | 211 | 34·9 |
| Preceding birth interval less than 24 months | * | |||||||
| Yes | 449 | 46·8 | 582 | 47·9 | 191 | 40·8 | 157 | 37·7 |
| No | 1672 | 44·3 | 1881 | 43·2 | 692 | 36·2 | 524 | 32·0 |
| Had fever in last two weeks | ** | |||||||
| Yes | 1085 | 47·2 | 1188 | 45·4 | 397 | 38·1 | 304 | 33·4 |
| No | 1028 | 42·5 | 1272 | 43·1 | 486 | 36·4 | 377 | 33·0 |
| Had cough in the last two weeks | ||||||||
| Yes | 1123 | 46·2 | 1234 | 45·0 | 450 | 38·9 | 353 | 34·5 |
| No | 996 | 43·3 | 1226 | 43·4 | 433 | 35·5 | 328 | 31·8 |
| Had diarrhoea in the last two weeks | ** | ** | ||||||
| Yes | 581 | 49·6 | 551 | 47·1 | 272 | 42·2 | 176 | 34·6 |
| No | 1538 | 43·3 | 1907 | 43·4 | 611 | 35·3 | 506 | 32·7 |
HAZ, height-for-age Z-score.
*P≤0·05, **P≤0·01, ***P≤0·001.