Undernutrition among Women in Ethiopia (English)

Document Type

Working Papers

Publication Topic(s)

Nutrition

Country(s)

Ethiopia

Language

English

Author(s)

Fikrewold H. Bitew, Daniel S. Telake and ICF Macro, Calverton, Maryland, USA

Publication Date

November 2010

Publication ID

WP77

Abstract:

In-depth understanding of women’s nutritional status is crucial to reducing maternal mortality and food insecurity. The percentage undernourished is higher in Ethiopia than in any other sub-Saharan African country. Thus this study focuses on undernutrition in Ethiopia to assess levels and socio-demographic differentials between rural and urban areas, and to analyze determinants. The paper uses the 2000 and 2005 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys (EDHS), comprising 13,057and 5,677 non-pregnant and non-postpartum women age 15-49, respectively. Women’s body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2) is used as a measure of women’s nutritional status, and those with a BMI value less than 18.5 are considered to be at risk of chronic energy deficiency (CED). A logistic regression model was employed to identify important determinant factors of women’s undernutrition. The study finds that 30.5% of women in the 2000 EDHS and 26.9% of the women in the 2005 survey were undernourished, of whom in the 2000 survey 19.4% were moderately undernourished and 11.1% were severely undernourished. Similarly, in the 2005 survey 18.0% were moderately undernourished and 8.9% severely undernourished. The levels of undernutrition were almost 1.5 times higher for rural than urban women. There seems to be some improvement in women’s undernutrition status between 2000 and 2005.