Prevalence of Underweight and Associated Factors among Lactating Women in Ethiopia: A Mini-review

Abstract

Nutritional status is considered as one of the key indicators of the overall wellbeing of a population. Lactating women and children are among the most vulnerable groups due to their higher nutritional needs and detrimental effects of poor nutrition on their health. Lactating women have increased nutritional needs and if not well met, breast milk quality and quantity are negatively affected, which leads to increased risk for child morbidity and mortality. Studies have been done in the different regions of Ethiopia to assess the nutritional status among lactating women and have reported various prevalence and different associated factors. Despite the different efforts to improve nutrition in Ethiopia, the prevalence of underweight is still high, with most regions having a higher prevalence than the documented 5-20% of African women. We aimed to review the prevalence and associated factors of underweight among lactating women in Ethiopia. We used literature searched from key databases such as Google Scholar, Web of Science, among others, to collect relevant information about the prevalence of underweight among pregnant women in Ethiopia. The mini-review identified the highest prevalence at 50.6% in the Northern parts and the lowest at 17.4% in the Southern parts of Ethiopia. Several factors were identified to be associated with underweight among lactating women in Ethiopia including; dietary diversity score, household food security, family income, place of delivery, nutritional education programs and antenatal care attendance. This implies the need for targeted programs/policies to promote household food security and family income, community nutritional education, and nutritional counselling during antenatal care attendance. Besides, there is a need to conduct national and regional studies to inform policy further since there were more studies done in the Southern parts of the Country with less information from other regions.