TY - JOUR

T1 - Association of vitamin A deficiency with early childhood stunting in Uganda

T2 - A population-based cross-sectional study

AU - Ssentongo, P.

AU - Ba, D.M.

AU - Ssentongo, A.E.

AU - Fronterre, C.

AU - Whalen, A.

AU - Yang, Y.

AU - Ericson, J.E.

AU - Chinchilli, V.M.

PY - 2020/5/29

Y1 - 2020/5/29

N2 - BackgroundDespite the high prevalence of childhood protein-energy malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa, their association has not been explored in this region. A better understanding of the epidemiologic link could help define effective preventive strategies. We aimed to explore the association of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) with stunting, wasting, and underweight among preschool children in Uganda.MethodWe analyzed a population-based, cross-sectional data of 4,765 children aged 6–59 months who participated in 2016 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in Uganda. We utilized generalized linear mixed-effects models with logit link function, adjusting for potential confounders to estimate associations between VAD and stunting, wasting, and underweight.ResultsThe prevalence of VAD was 8.9% (95% CI: 8.1% to 9.6%, n = 424). Twenty-seven percent were stunted (95% CI: 26.1% to 28.6, n = 1302), 4% wasted (95% CI: 3.6% to 4.7%, n = 196), and 17% underweight (95% CI: 16.0% to 18.2%, n = 813). After adjusting for household factors (e.g., wealth index, education and working status of parents, owning land for agriculture, livestock, herds, or farm animals), vitamin A supplementation, and community factors (e.g., population density, crop growing season lengths, place of residence), children with VAD had 43% higher odds of stunted growth than those without VAD (adjusted odds ratio, 1.43 (95% CI: 1.08 to 1.89, p = 0.01). No association was observed between VAD and wasting or underweight.ConclusionVitamin A deficiency was associated with higher odds of stunting, and the association was independent of the individual, household, and community-level variables.

AB - BackgroundDespite the high prevalence of childhood protein-energy malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency in sub-Saharan Africa, their association has not been explored in this region. A better understanding of the epidemiologic link could help define effective preventive strategies. We aimed to explore the association of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) with stunting, wasting, and underweight among preschool children in Uganda.MethodWe analyzed a population-based, cross-sectional data of 4,765 children aged 6–59 months who participated in 2016 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in Uganda. We utilized generalized linear mixed-effects models with logit link function, adjusting for potential confounders to estimate associations between VAD and stunting, wasting, and underweight.ResultsThe prevalence of VAD was 8.9% (95% CI: 8.1% to 9.6%, n = 424). Twenty-seven percent were stunted (95% CI: 26.1% to 28.6, n = 1302), 4% wasted (95% CI: 3.6% to 4.7%, n = 196), and 17% underweight (95% CI: 16.0% to 18.2%, n = 813). After adjusting for household factors (e.g., wealth index, education and working status of parents, owning land for agriculture, livestock, herds, or farm animals), vitamin A supplementation, and community factors (e.g., population density, crop growing season lengths, place of residence), children with VAD had 43% higher odds of stunted growth than those without VAD (adjusted odds ratio, 1.43 (95% CI: 1.08 to 1.89, p = 0.01). No association was observed between VAD and wasting or underweight.ConclusionVitamin A deficiency was associated with higher odds of stunting, and the association was independent of the individual, household, and community-level variables.

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0233615

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0233615

M3 - Journal article

VL - 15

JO - PLoS ONE

JF - PLoS ONE

SN - 1932-6203

IS - 5

M1 - e0233615

ER -