Where Do They Live and What Are the Individual and Contextual Factors Predisposing Children to Severe Acute Malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa

Adeniyi Fagbamigbe
Olalekan Uthman, Warwick-Centre for Applied Health Research and Delivery, University of Warwick Medical School

Reduction of malnutrition, especially severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is very crucial to a targeted decrease in child health. We aim to develop and test a model of risk factors associated with SAM among under-five children in SSA countries. Methods: We used 33 recent Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data collected between 2010 and 2018 in SSA countries. We used multivariable Bayesian logistic multilevel regression models to analyse the association between individual compositional and contextual factors associated with SAM. Results: We analysed information on 210,289 under-five children (Level 1) nested within 17,529 neighbourhoods (Level 2) from 33 SSA countries (Level 3). Prevalence of SAM ranged from 0.5% in South Africa to 8.8% in Nigeria. Male children, infants, and children from rural areas, neighbourhoods with high illiteracy and high unemployment rates and those from countries with high intensity of deprivation and high rural population percentage were more likely to have SAM.