Contributing factors to acute malnutrition among children admitted to public health facilities in South West Ethiopia: a matched case-control study.

Introduction: In Ethiopia, acute malnutrition is one of the potential challenges to achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals in reducing child mortality. Thus, this study aimed to determine factors associated with acute malnutrition among children aged 6-59 months attending public health facilities in Jimma town, South West Ethiopia, from March to December 2017.

Methods: An institution-based age-matched case-control study design was used. Two hundred and thirty-four children aged 6 to 59 months were randomly selected. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Variables with a p-value of ≤0.25 in the bivariate analyses were entered into a multivariable regression analysis to determine the independent predictors of acute malnutrition.

Results: This study showed that lack of maternal education (AOR = 4.08, 95% CI, 1.46, 11.40), poor child feeding (AOR = 5.97, 95% CI, 1.83, 19.44), low wealth index (AOR = 3.76, 95% CI, 1.24, 11.38), less hand washing (AOR = 5.57, 95% CI, 1.82, 16.97), exposure to diarrhea (AOR = 3.58, 95% CI, 1.15, 11.07), and bottle-feeding (AOR = 3.98, 95% CI, 1.29, 12.36) were significantly associated with acute malnutrition among children attending public health facilities in Jimma town.

Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that the sex of the child, family size, household wealth index, bottle-feeding, and maternal knowledge of child feeding were found to be independent predictors of acute malnutrition. Therefore, emphasis should be given to strengthening caregivers' socioeconomic status and improving the knowledge of mothers regarding childfeeding practices.