Magnitude of Undernutrition and Associated Factors among Adolescents in Refugee Camps in Somali Region, Ethiopia

Background: Adolescence is a period of rapid growth and maturation in human development that demands extra nutrients and energy to support growth. Focusing on adolescents’ nutrition provides a unique opportunity to break the intergenerational cycles of malnutrition.

Objectives: To assess the magnitude of undernutrition (thinness and stunting) and associated factors among adolescents living in refugee camps in the Somali region, Ethiopia.

Methods: An institute-based cross-sectional study design was employed among adolescents in refugee camps. About 433 adolescents were sampled by using simple random sampling procedures. Anthropometric measurements followed by the WHO growth standard procedure were employed to generate anthropometric indices. WHO Anthro Plus software was used to calculate body mass index for age z-score and height for age z-score. Data were entered into Epi Data and transferred to SPSS (version 22) for analysis. Multivariable logistic regression was used to measure the association between the dependent variable and independent variables with a 95% confidence interval and the significance of the outcome variable was declared at P<0.05.

Results: an overall magnitude of stunting and thinness of the adolescents were found in 34.4% and 33.9%, respectively. In multivariable logistic regression model, head of household (Adjust odd ratio (AOR) = 1.758, 95%, and Confidence Interval (CI): 1.019–3.003), place of refugee (AOR 3.611, 95%, and CI: 1.835-7.105) Awbarre and (AOR = 16.039, 95%, and CI: 5.950-43.237) Kebribayah, monthly income (AOR = 5.847, 95%, and CI: 1.486-23.007) were significantly associated with stunting. The family size [AOR = 9.776, 95%, and CI: 1.132-84.404) and age of the adolescents (AOR = 0.596, 95%, and CI: 0.362-0.982).

Conclusion: The prevalence of thinness and stunting was high in this study, being the head of household location of refugees and monthly income statistically significant with adolescent stunting. Being larger family size was found to be statistically significant with adolescents’ thinness. Therefore, stakeholders should support nutrition intervention and other activities to reduce stunting and thinness among adolescents living in refugee camps.