Dataset Information

Caregivers Systematically Overestimate Their Child's Height-for-Age Relative to Other Children in Rural Ethiopia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Stunting affects one-quarter of children <5 y of age, yet little is known about the accuracy of caregivers' perceptions regarding their child's linear growth. Most existing quantitative research on this topic has been conducted in high-income countries and has examined perceptions of children's weight rather than height.

Objectives

In rural Ethiopia where linear growth faltering is highly prevalent, this study aimed to better understand how caregivers perceive their child's growth. The objectives of this analysis were to 1) assess caregivers' perceptions of their child's height; 2) investigate whether there is a discrepancy between a child's actual height and caregivers' perceptions of their child's height; and 3) examine the factors that influence discrepancies in estimating a child's height (secondary outcomes), including the role of the average height in the community (primary outcome).

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using data from 808 woman caregivers of children ages 6-35 mo in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. We assessed caregivers' rankings (from 1 to 10) of their child's height relative to other children their age in their village. We then converted these rankings to z scores based on an age- and region-specific distribution in order to calculate their difference with the child's actual height-for-age z score and to determine the degree of overestimation. Lastly, we used multivariate log Poisson regressions to determine factors associated with overestimating a child's height.

Results

Forty-three percent of caregivers scored their child's height as the median; 37% overestimated their child's height relative to other children. Regression results showed caregivers who were poorer, and had children who were female, older, and stunted, were more likely to overestimate.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that caregivers of young children in Oromia systematically overestimated their children's height, which could adversely affect child health if these misperceptions translate to insufficient care-seeking behavior or feeding choices for children.

SUBMITTER: Passarelli S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9071331 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Caregivers Systematically Overestimate Their Child's Height-for-Age Relative to Other Children in Rural Ethiopia.

Passarelli Simone S Sudfeld Christopher C Davison Kirsten K KK Fawzi Wafaie W Donato Katherine K Tessema Masresha M Gunaratna Nilupa S NS De Groote Hugo H Cohen Jessica J McConnell Margaret M

The Journal of nutrition 20220501 5

<h4>Background</h4>Stunting affects one-quarter of children <5 y of age, yet little is known about the accuracy of caregivers' perceptions regarding their child's linear growth. Most existing quantitative research on this topic has been conducted in high-income countries and has examined perceptions of children's weight rather than height.<h4>Objectives</h4>In rural Ethiopia where linear growth faltering is highly prevalent, this study aimed to better understand how caregivers perceive their chi ...[more]

PMID: 35102394

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Dataset Information

Caregivers Systematically Overestimate Their Child's Height-for-Age Relative to Other Children in Rural Ethiopia.

Background

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Caregivers Systematically Overestimate Their Child's Height-for-Age Relative to Other Children in Rural Ethiopia.

Similar Datasets

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