A systematic review and meta-analysis of adolescent nutrition in Ethiopia: transforming adolescent lives through nutrition (TALENT) initiative
A systematic review and meta-analysis of adolescent nutrition in Ethiopia: transforming adolescent lives through nutrition (TALENT) initiative
Background: Ethiopia has undergone rapid economic growth over the last two decades that could influence the diets and nutrition of young people. This work systematically reviewed primary studies on adolescent nutrition from Ethiopia, to inform future interventions to guide policies and programs for this age group.
Method: a systematic search of electronic databases for published studies on the prevalence of and interventions for adolescent malnutrition in Ethiopia in the English language since the year 2000 was performed using a three-step search strategy. The results were checked for quality using the Joanna Bridge Institute (JBI) checklist, and synthesized and presented as a narrative description.
Results: seventy six articles and two national surveys were reviewed. These documented nutritional status in terms of anthropometry, micronutrient status, dietary diversity, food-insecurity, and eating habits. In the meta-analysis the pooled prevalence of stunting, thinness and overweight/obesity was 22.4% (95% CI: 18.9, 25.9), 17.7% (95% CI: 14.6, 20.8) and 10.6% (7.9, 13.3), respectively. The prevalence of undernutrition ranged from 4% to 54% for stunting and from 5% to 29% for thinness. Overweight/obesity ranged from 1% to 17%. Prevalence of stunting and thinness were higher in boys and rural adolescents, whereas overweight/obesity was higher in girls and urban adolescents. The prevalence of anemia ranged from 9% to 33%. Approximately 40%-52% of adolescents have iodine deficiency and associated risk of goiter. Frequent micronutrient deficiencies are vitamin D (42%), zinc (38%), folate (15%), and vitamin A (6.3%).
Conclusions: the adolescent population in Ethiopia is facing multiple micronutrient deficiencies and a double-burden of malnutrition, although undernutrition is predominant. The magnitude of nutritional problems varies by gender and setting. Context-relevant interventions are required to effectively improve the nutrition and health of adolescents in Ethiopia.
adolescent, Ethiopia/epidemiology, female, growth disorders/epidemiology, humans, male, malnutrition/epidemiology, micronutrients, nutritional Status, obesity/epidemiology, overweight/epidemiology, prevalence, thinness/epidemiology
Abera, Mubarek
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Workicho, Abdulhalik
a21f1063-64ee-42e3-9a2c-bb47e3729779
Berhane, Melkamu
2770c325-7b0a-49de-b667-0e92542139dc
Hiko, Desta
39270116-c85c-48e5-a528-77f150cbd22f
Ali, Rahma
ca95e71a-9cc8-4a41-bdb4-1a9a19a047fd
Zinab, Beakal
36760b96-e615-4ab4-ba98-f5c059ea1b22
Haileamlak, Abraham
7d7e77bf-27d9-45e0-800f-fd62a8713534
Fall, Caroline
7171a105-34f5-4131-89d7-1aa639893b18
6 April 2023
Abera, Mubarek
430c1556-42f6-40a4-a87f-fe9c4882b8c2
Workicho, Abdulhalik
a21f1063-64ee-42e3-9a2c-bb47e3729779
Berhane, Melkamu
2770c325-7b0a-49de-b667-0e92542139dc
Hiko, Desta
39270116-c85c-48e5-a528-77f150cbd22f
Ali, Rahma
ca95e71a-9cc8-4a41-bdb4-1a9a19a047fd
Zinab, Beakal
36760b96-e615-4ab4-ba98-f5c059ea1b22
Haileamlak, Abraham
7d7e77bf-27d9-45e0-800f-fd62a8713534
Fall, Caroline
7171a105-34f5-4131-89d7-1aa639893b18
Abera, Mubarek, Workicho, Abdulhalik, Berhane, Melkamu, Hiko, Desta, Ali, Rahma, Zinab, Beakal, Haileamlak, Abraham and Fall, Caroline
(2023)
A systematic review and meta-analysis of adolescent nutrition in Ethiopia: transforming adolescent lives through nutrition (TALENT) initiative.
PLoS ONE, 18 (4 April), [e0280784].
(doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0280784).
Abstract
Background: Ethiopia has undergone rapid economic growth over the last two decades that could influence the diets and nutrition of young people. This work systematically reviewed primary studies on adolescent nutrition from Ethiopia, to inform future interventions to guide policies and programs for this age group.
Method: a systematic search of electronic databases for published studies on the prevalence of and interventions for adolescent malnutrition in Ethiopia in the English language since the year 2000 was performed using a three-step search strategy. The results were checked for quality using the Joanna Bridge Institute (JBI) checklist, and synthesized and presented as a narrative description.
Results: seventy six articles and two national surveys were reviewed. These documented nutritional status in terms of anthropometry, micronutrient status, dietary diversity, food-insecurity, and eating habits. In the meta-analysis the pooled prevalence of stunting, thinness and overweight/obesity was 22.4% (95% CI: 18.9, 25.9), 17.7% (95% CI: 14.6, 20.8) and 10.6% (7.9, 13.3), respectively. The prevalence of undernutrition ranged from 4% to 54% for stunting and from 5% to 29% for thinness. Overweight/obesity ranged from 1% to 17%. Prevalence of stunting and thinness were higher in boys and rural adolescents, whereas overweight/obesity was higher in girls and urban adolescents. The prevalence of anemia ranged from 9% to 33%. Approximately 40%-52% of adolescents have iodine deficiency and associated risk of goiter. Frequent micronutrient deficiencies are vitamin D (42%), zinc (38%), folate (15%), and vitamin A (6.3%).
Conclusions: the adolescent population in Ethiopia is facing multiple micronutrient deficiencies and a double-burden of malnutrition, although undernutrition is predominant. The magnitude of nutritional problems varies by gender and setting. Context-relevant interventions are required to effectively improve the nutrition and health of adolescents in Ethiopia.
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journal.pone.0280784
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 7 January 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 6 April 2023
Published date: 6 April 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The study was funded by a Global Challenges Research Fund/Medical Research Council pump priming grant (grant number: MC_PC_MR/R018545/1). The funders had no involvement in the design, implementation, analysis or decision to prepare a manuscript or to publish the finding.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Abera et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Keywords:
adolescent, Ethiopia/epidemiology, female, growth disorders/epidemiology, humans, male, malnutrition/epidemiology, micronutrients, nutritional Status, obesity/epidemiology, overweight/epidemiology, prevalence, thinness/epidemiology
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 477280
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/477280
ISSN: 1932-6203
PURE UUID: c88f40a2-e6fe-4039-80bb-eebd24cab91d
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Date deposited: 02 Jun 2023 16:31
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:36
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Contributors
Author:
Mubarek Abera
Author:
Abdulhalik Workicho
Author:
Melkamu Berhane
Author:
Desta Hiko
Author:
Rahma Ali
Author:
Beakal Zinab
Author:
Abraham Haileamlak
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