Prevalence of wasting and associated factors among children aged 2–5 years, southern Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Wasting (acute malnutrition) is the most serious form of malnutrition for children in the near term. Malnutrition has a variety of causes, all of which are interconnected and hierarchically related. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of wasting and its associated determinants among children under the age of five in the Wonago district, Gedeo zone, southern Ethiopia. METHODS: Community based cross-sectional study was conducted from October 1 to 30, 2021 using a systematic random sampling technique. Data were entered using Epidata manager and STATA v.20 software was used for analysis. Descriptive statistics were reported to describe the study population. To identify associated factors of wasting, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were fitted. Variables having p-value < 0.05 were declared statistically significant predictors of wasting. RESULTS: A total of 390 respondents participated with a response rate of 92.6%. The prevalence of wasting among children aged 2–5 years in Wonago district was 36.4% (95% CI: 31.76–41.32). Moderate household food insecurity (AOR = 0.35, 95%CI: 0.14–0.83), history of recurrent illness (AOR = 0.15, 95%CI: 0.26–0.84), and duration of breastfeeding greater than 2 years (AOR = 0.15, 95%CI: 0.26–0.84) were significantly associated with wasting. CONCLUSION: Almost one-third of the children were wasted. Household food insecurity, breastfeeding, and recurrent illness were significantly associated with wasting among children aged 24–59 months. It is recommended that interventions be designed with food security, disease prevention, and breastfeeding awareness in mind and put the spotlight on food and nutrition policy to insure children’s nutritional status. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40795-022-00657-x.