Sibling gender dynamics and childhood stunting in Ghana.

Autor: Mensah PA; Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana. peterannor05@gmail.com.; Participatory Development Associates, Accra, Ghana. peterannor05@gmail.com., Sawyerr RT; Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana., Christian AK; Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: BMC nutrition [BMC Nutr] 2024 Dec 06; Vol. 10 (1), pp. 157. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Dec 06.
DOI: 10.1186/s40795-024-00969-0
Abstrakt: Background: Stunting remains a public health concern in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the evolving awareness of the effect of family composition on child health outcomes, the influence of sibling gender on stunting has seldom been consistent. The current study investigated the association between sibling composition and stunting among children under five years in Ghana.
Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized data from the most recent Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS 2022), focusing on 5416 mother-child dyads. Stunting prevalence was assessed through descriptive analysis, while logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the association between sibling composition and identify other risk factors associated with stunting.
Results: The prevalence of stunting among children under five years of age was 18%. It was observed from the male sex-stratified model that having male siblings and having a combination of male and female siblings increased male children's odds of being stunted. In contrast, having siblings of either gender or having a combination of male and female siblings may not pose any stunting threats to female children as observed in the female sex-stratified model. Furthermore, being a male child (OR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.25, 1.90) and never being breastfed (OR: 2.07; 95% CI: 1.31, 3.21) increased children's likelihood of stunting.
Conclusion: This study concludes that the extra nutrients boys require for healthy growth and development may increase their competition for nutrients, especially in households with limited resource. Parents and guardians are advised to be consciously aware of the subtle and apparent competition between male children and take appropriate measures to prevent children's deprivation of nutrition by their male siblings.
Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethical approval: The study used data from the 2022 GDHS. The survey was carried out in conformity to the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. Ethical clearance for the conduct of the survey was given by the Ethical Review Committee of the Ghana Health Service, and ICF Institutional Review Board. Access to the data was granted by the Ghana Statistical Service. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Consent to participate: Interviewers trained by the Ghana Statistical Service sought consent from participants to participate in the survey. Respondents then agreed to participate in the survey. The data for this study anonymized the respondents so that no personally identifiable information could be traced to individual respondents.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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