Syed Faridul Hasnain, Nousheen Pradhan.
Prolonged breast-feeding prevents wasting in children: a community-based study from rural Sindh, Pakistan.
Pak J Public Health Jan ;3(3):2-8.
Purpose: Wasting is an important indicator of child's health and is represented by low weight for child's length or height. According to UNICEF , an estimated 26 million children suffer from wasting in developing countries. Child malnutrition including wasting is a recognized public health problem in Pakistan. The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of wasting and its associated risk factors among children under-ve years of age in a rural town in Pakistan. Method: Using a cross-sectional design, a total of 800 children under-ve years of age were enrolled in Jhangara town, located in a district in rural Sindh, Pakistan. Anthropometric measurements were performed on the children. A child was dened as suffering from wasting if the Z score was less than a value of 2 SD below the reference median. Information on breast-feeding history , history of infections, birth weight and area of residence was collected. Multivariate analysis was done using the multiple logistic regression model. Results: Of 800 children, boys were in the majority (56.3%), while 43.8% were girls. The mean (± SD) age of the boys was 25.34 ±16.48 months, while the mean (± SD) age of the girls was 25.75 ± 15.90 months. The majority (92.3%) of the children were breast-fed, with a mean (± SD) duration of 15.05 ± 7.90 months. Prolonged breast-feeding (>12 months) was seen to have had a protective effect against wasting. The children who were breast-fed for longer than 12 months were 0.6 times less likely to suffer from wasting compared to those who were breast-fed up to 12 months (OR = 0.6, 95% CI 0.43–0.98). Furthermore, the area of residence played a signicant role in child's wasting. Children living outside the Jhangara town were 1.8 times more likely to have wasting compared to those living inside the town (OR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.17–2.69). Conclusion: This study provided strong evidence to support current infant-feeding recommendations by WHO for optimum child growth and development and to prevent the risk of wasting among children under-ve years of age. The high prevalence of wasting among children living outside the Jhangra town reected the possible role of the health care facility located within the town and its possible role in contributing to lower prevalence of wasting. Efforts are needed to provide appropriate breast-feeding education, improvement in social determinants of health, and to design and test the efcacy of nutritional interventions for reducing the prevalence of wasting among children under-ve years of age
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