Prevalence of Wasting and its Associated Factors among Children age from 6-59 Months in Debre Tabor Town Amhara Region of Ethiopia 2019: A Multi-center Community-based Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Wasting is acute malnutrition that has harmful short-term consequences for children and it is determined by inadequate diet. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of wasting among children age 6-59 months at Debre Tabor town Ethiopia, 2019.Method: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on wasting using simple and systematic random sampling. A sample of 436participants completed a questionnaire designed for the study. The questionnaire was coded and entered into Epi info version 7.2.0.1 and exported to SPSS 20.0 for data analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to compute family wealth status. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done to see which independent variables have an association with the dependent variable, and a P value of less than 0.05 was considered as significant at 95% CI.Results: The result revealed that wasting for children age 6-59 months was 6.2 %( 95% CI 3.9%-8.5 %,). Children with the age group of 6-11 months were 4.3 times more likely to have wasted than those age group of 24-59 months [AOR: 4.3; 95% CI: 1.5–12.5]. Similarly, parents who have poor wealth status in their family are 3.1 times more likely to have wasted children than those who have rich wealth status in their family [AOR: 3.1 (1.01–9.35)]. Mothers who gave first birth at the age group of 20-25 years of age were 4.3 times more likely to have wasted children than those who gave birth at an age group of greater than 30 years [AOR: (4.3(1.56-12.5)].Conclusion: Undernutrition especially wasting is still an important public health problem in children with an age group of 6-59 months. Age of the child, wealth status of the family, and giving the first birth before 20 years of age were significantly associated with wasting. Therefore, family wealth status should be modified, create awareness to the mothers regarding maternal and child health care and responsible bodies should be designed for further nutritional intervention programs.