347 Malnutrition in Roma Children in Albania

Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Abay Poster Exhibition and Hall (Millennium Hall)
Shkurti Enkelejda European Primary Care Forum, Albania
Background

Roma children that live in Central and Eastern Europe face tremendous levels of social exclusion and poverty, but their health conditions have not been well studied. The aim of this study was to illuminate risk factors for malnutrition in children in Roma settlements in Albania.

Methods

Anthropometric and socio-demographic measures were provided for 1192 Roma children under five living in Roma settlements from the 2006 Albania Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. Multiple logistic regression was used to speak about family and child characteristics to the odds of stunting, wasting, and underweight.

Results

The prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight was 20.1%, 4.3%, and 8.0%, correspondingly. Almost all of the children studied fell into the lowest quintile of wealth for the general population of Albania. Children in the lowest quintile of wealth were four times more prone to be stunted compared to those in the highest quintile, followed by those in the second lowest quintile (AOR = 2.1) and finally by those in the middle quintile (AOR = 1.6). The children who were ever left in the care of an older child were nearly twice as expected to stunted as those that were not. Children living in urban settlements showed an obvious disadvantage with close to three times the probability of being wasted in contrast to those living in rural areas. There was an idea that maternal education was related to stunting, and maternal literacy was significantly associated with wasting.

Conclusion

It appears a gradient relationship between household wealth and stunting even within indigent settlements, indicating that among poor and marginalized populations socioeconomic inequities in child health should be addressed. Other fields on which to focus future research and public health intervention include maternal literacy, child endangerment practices, and urban settlements.

 


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