Nutritional Status of School Going Adolescent Girls in Awash Town, Afar Region, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Adolescence is an essential stage in the human life cycle, a transition period between childhood and adulthood that is characterized by rapid growth spurt in which nutritional requirement is high. Adolescents are risk groups for malnutrition, but they are not part of a target in many intervention strategies. Hence, this study was aimed at assessing nutritional status of adolescent girls and its associated factors. METHODS: Institutional based cross-sectional study design was employed among randomly selected 348 school going adolescent girls. Data were entered into Epi Info and transported to SPSS version 20 for further analysis. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify predicators of nutritional status of adolescent girls at p value <0.05 and 95% confidence level. RESULTS: This study revealed that 22.9% and 8.82% of school adolescent girls were stunted and thin, respectively. Being at early adolescent age (14-15 years) [AOR = 1.4, 95% CI (1.04–4.28)], ownership of phone [AOR = 3.3, 95% CI (1.55–7.02)], and dietary diversity score of <4 food groups [AOR = 2.2, 95% CI (1.4–4.54)] were some of the potential predictors of stunting. Similarly, dietary diversity score of <4 food groups [AOR = 1.8, 95% CI (1.14–4.38)] and low food consumption [AOR = 3, 95% CI (1.15–7.90)] were some of the potential predictors of thinness. Conclusion and Recommendation. The prevalence of both stunting and thinness is a public health problem in the study area. Early adolescent age (10–14 years), ownership of phone, and dietary diversity score of <4 food groups were independent predictors of stunting. Dietary diversity score of <4 food groups and eating less than usual were independent predictors of thinness. An integrated nutritional intervention and health related services that meet the needs of adolescent girls in the school community have to be established and strengthened. Since adolescent age is period of growth and development in which growth spurt and nutritional requirement are high, adolescents should be provided with enough meals and diversified foods.