Abstract
Objective: Stunting is a chronic condition reflecting poor nutrition and health. Our aim was to ascertain major predictors of stunting in children ,5 years old in Libya. Population and methods: A nationally representative, cross-sectional, two-stage stratified cluster sample survey enrolled 4549 under-fives from 6707 households. Logistic regression was used to determine individual risk factors in bivariate and multivariate analyses. Results: Anthropometric measurements were available for 4498 children. Among the 929 stunted children (20?7 %), 495 were boys (53?3 %) and 434 were girls (46?5 %). In multivariate analysis, risk factors were young age (1–2 years: OR5 2?32, 95 % CI 1?67, 3?22; 2–3 years: OR5 1?64, 95 % CI 1?22, 2?21), resident of Al-Akhdar (OR5 1?67, 95 % CI 1?08, 2?58), being a boy (OR5 1?28, 95 % CI 1?05, 1?55), having a less educated father (illiterate: OR5 2?10, 95 % CI 1?17, 3?77; preparatory school: OR5 1?71, 95 % CI 1?11, 2?65), poor psychosocial stimula- tion (no family visits or trips: OR5 1?52, 95 % CI 1?07, 2?16; father rarely/never plays with child: OR5 2?24, 95 % CI 1?20, 4?16), filtered water (OR5 8?45, 95 % CI 2?31, 30?95), throwing garbage in the street (OR5 13?81, 95 % CI 2?33, 81?72), diarrhoea (OR5 1?58, 95 % CI 1?09, 2?29) and low birth weight (OR5 1?8, 95 % CI 1?17, 2?40). Protective factors were older age of father (OR5 0?53, 95 % CI 0?32, 0?90) and water storage (OR5 0?70, 95 % CI 0?54, 0?90). These variables only explained 20 % of cases of stunting. Conclusion: Various multilevel actions are needed to improve nutritional status of under-fives in Libya. At risk-groups include those with young age (1–3 years), resident of Al-Akhdar region, boys, father’s low educational level, poor psycho- social stimulation, poor housing environment, diarrhoea and low birth weight.