Nutritional status and associated factors among orphan children below the age of five years in Gondar City, Ethiopia

Introduction: Orphan and vulnerable children are at high risk for malnutrition due to poor economic status, less medical and social care. Despite the high number of Orphans and Vulnerable Children with potential risk for malnutrition in Ethiopia, there is insufficient evidence that indicates the nutritional status as well as the effect of orphan hood and child vulnerability on nutritional status. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status and associated factors among Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Gondar City, Ethiopia. Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted from August 01 to 30/2013 on under-five Orphans and Vulnerable Children. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from the guardians. The child’s nutritional status was assessed anthropometrically using a Height-for-Age, Weight-for-Age and Weight-for-Height. Epi Info 3.5.1 was used to enter the data and both bivariate and multivariate analysis was used to test the association between nutritional status and independent variables. Results: The overall prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting was 45.7%, 27.8% and 9.9% respectively. The main contributing factors for malnutrition were family size, age of children, caregiver educational status, and main source of income, Households income, Vitamin A Supplementation, number of Orphans and Vulnerable Children and two weeks period diarrheal disease prior to the study. Conclusion: The prevalence of malnutrition in children below the age of five was high. To improve the nutritional status of those Children, comprehensive nutrition intervention strategy needs to designed and strengthen the economic status of the households by income generating techniques.