Adolescence is characterized by rapid growth and development and iron requirements increase during this time. Adolescents with poor diet in early childhood and/or females with an early onset of menarche may be at greater risk for developing anemia due to the rapid depletion of iron stores in their bodies. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and severity of anemia among school adolescents in Wonago district, Gedeo Zone, South Ethiopia. A school based cross-sectional study was conducted among 443 randomly selected school adolescents across 15 schools (2 secondary schools and 13 primary schools) in the district. Hemoglobin concentration from a capillary blood sample was determined by portable hemoglobin meter (HemoCue). Descriptive statistics were computed for prevalence of anemia, anthropometric measurements, socio-economic and socio-demographic variables. A hierarchical multivariable logistic regression analysis was done to identify determinants of anemia among adolescents. The prevalence of anemia among adolescents in the study area was 22%. Anemia was higher among those in early adolescence period (10–13 years) (AOR: 4.75, CI: 1.69–13.35) compared to late adolescence (17–19 years) and among those with height for age z-score less than -2 (AOR: 6.23, CI: 1.98–19.62). Similarly, anemia was higher among those in households with a family size greater than five members (AOR: 9.82, CI: 2.42–39.88), adolescents from rural areas (AOR: 4.37, CI: 1.54–12.46) and families who purchase food needed for daily consumption (AOR: 3.25, CI: 1.42–7.45). On the other hand, adolescents from middle wealth quintiles (AOR: 0.26 (CI: 0.07–0.98)) and female adolescents (AOR: 0.34 (CI: 0.15–0.79) were less likely to be anemic in this study. The prevalence of anemia in this population is of moderate public health concern, adolescents of both sexes are among groups at risk for the development of anemia. The need for further assessment of the etiology of anemia should be considered to design pragmatic intervention programs.

Objective This study was aimed to identify determinants of HIV infection among children born from mothers on the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programme in Southern Ethiopia. It was designed to explore the main contributors to the considerable transmission rate of HIV from mother to child. Setting and design A multicentre facility-based unmatched case–control study was conducted using 27 health facilities providing PMTCT service in Southern Ethiopia. Participants Out of 307 (62 cases and 245 controls) expected to participate in this study, a total of 290 mother–child pairs of 58 cases and 232 controls have completed the interview. Cases were children born to mothers on PMTCT programme and with DNA PCR or antibody HIV positive test result at ≤24 months of age. Controls were children born to mothers on PMTCT programme and with DNA PCR or antibody HIV negative test result at ≤24 months of age. Result Data were collected from the mother and record and analysed using SPSS V.20. Logistic regression analysis was done for statistical association and the significance of association was declared at a p value of <0.05. Rural residence (adjusted OR (AOR): 4.15, 95% CI: (1.57 to 10.97)), knowing serostatus during current pregnancy (AOR: 5.11, 95% CI: (1.33 to 19.69)), home delivery (AOR: 6.00, 95% CI: (2.310 to 15.593)), poor partner involvement (AOR: 5.95, 95% CI: 1.91 to 18.53)), poor adherence, late enrolment of the child for ARV prophylaxis (AOR: 4.89, 95% CI: 1.34 to 17.88)), mixed breastfeeding practice (AOR: 10.36, 95% CI: (3.10 to 34.60)) and failure to be on cotrimoxazole therapy (AOR: 7.56, 95% CI: 2.07 to 27.61)) were factors significantly associated with MTCT. Conclusion The finding implies that more needs to be done on rural residents, strengthening screening for HIV before pregnancy, encouraging male involvement, early enrolment of child for ARV prophylaxis, avoiding mixed breast feeding and putting newborn on cotrimoxazole therapy.

Background. High fertility remains one of the most important public health issues hampering the health and welfare of mothers and the survival of their children in developing nations. In Ethiopia, the high fertility rate has been seen for a long historical period with some pocket areas of high fertility still showing poor improvement. Hence, this study was aimed at determining the magnitude of high fertility status (number of children ever born alive≥5) and associated factors among women of the reproductive age group in Wonago district. Methods. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on randomly selected 512 women in Wonago district. Data were collected using a pretested structured interviewer administered questionnaire. Data was entered into EpiData version 3.1 and then analyzed by SPSS version 25. Logistic regression was used to analyze the data, and the adjusted odds ratio with the 95% confidence interval was computed, and a significant association was declared at p value ≤ 0.05. Result. This study revealed that 354 (69.1%) of the respondents have high fertility. High fertility is independently associated with residing in rural area [AOR=4.88, 95% CI: 3.21, 7.86], desire for children [AOR=6.97, 95% CI: 3.24, 11.40], history of under-five child mortality [AOR =5.32, 95% CI: 2.59, 8.43], poor knowledge of contraception [AOR=2.67, 95% CI: 1.66, 4.04], and low wealth tertile [AOR=2.21, 95% CI: 1.51, 3.58]. On the other hand, women with age at first birth above 18 years [AOR=0.34, 95% CI: 0.17, 0.68] and those with birth interval≥24 months [AOR=0, 26, 95% CI: 0.14, 0.49] were less likely to have high fertility. Conclusion and Recommendation. The substantial number of women in the study area has high fertility status far away from the country’s costed implementation plan of reducing the total fertility rate to 3.0. Considering these, much is needed to be done among poor, rural residents, who have not yet attained their desired number of children, and on enhancing the knowledge of mothers towards contraceptive methods.

Background. Adolescent anemia is a major public health problem worldwide. Adolescents (10–19 years) are at an increased risk of developing anemia due to increased iron demand during puberty, menstrual losses, limited dietary iron intake, and faulty dietary habits. Objective. To assess the prevalence of anemia and associated factors among male and female adolescent students in Dilla Town, Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia, May 2018. Methods. A school-based comparative cross-sectional study was employed among 742 school adolescents. Basic characteristics, anthropometric measurements, haemoglobin measurement, and others were collected. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 software, and descriptive statistics were computed for all variables. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses using binary logistic regression were done, the results were interpreted by using AOR with their corresponding 95% CI, and statistically significant difference was declared at p<0.05Result. Out of the total 742 respondents, 377 (50.8%) were males and 365 (49.2%) were females. The overall prevalence of anemia was 21.1%, and the prevalence of anemia was 22.5% among male adolescents and 19.7% among females. Male adolescent students within the early adolescence age group (10–13 yrs) (AOR 0.27, 95% CI, 0.08–0.87), those consuming fibre-rich foods daily (AOR 0.11, 95% CI, 0.02–0.61), and those having no intestinal parasites (AOR 0.04, 95% CI, 0.02–0.09) were less likely to be anemic. Similarly, female adolescent students not having intestinal parasites (AOR 0.05, 95% CI, 0.01–0.11) were less likely to develop anemia while those from malaria endemic area (AOR 2.57, 95% CI, 1.13–5.83) were identified to be more anemic. Conclusion. This study identified that anemia was a moderate public health significance in the study area, and the prevalence of anemia was slightly higher among male than female adolescents. Age category, frequency of eating fibre-rich foods, and positive intestinal parasite tests were factors contributing for anemia among male adolescents while presence of intestinal parasite and malaria endemicity were the determinants of anemia among female adolescents.

Background: Stunting, which describes a small height for one’s age, is an indicator of chronic malnutrition. It develops mainly as a result of prolonged food deprivation or a chronic disease or illness. Unintended pregnancies and unplanned births are among the psychological factors that negatively affect the nutritional status of children. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effects of unintended pregnancies and other family and child characteristics on the nutritional status of children under 5 years old. Methods: A community-based unmatched case-control study was conducted among 302 children (151 cases and 151 controls) 6–59 months old in Wonago town, Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia. The cases were stunted children and the controls were non-stunted children in the study area. The cases were randomly selected from among the stunted children, and the controls were randomly selected from among the non-stunted children. The descriptive characteristics of the respondents were compared using the chi-squared test, and a multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the effects of an unintended pregnancy on stunting, after controlling for the other variables, with a p value of 0.05. Results: The result revealed that unintended pregnancy is found to be among predictors of stunting where children from unintended pregnancy were about three times more likely to be stunted [AOR: 2.62, CI: (1.26, 5.45)]. The other predictors identified in this study were educational status of the father, wealth index of the household and daily meal frequency. From the finding, children from illiterate fathers [AOR: 3.43, CI: (1.04, 11.29)], children from poorer household economic status [AOR: 2.32, CI: (1.20, 4.49)] and children whom their daily meal frequency is below the recommended number of feeding [AOR: 4.50, CI: (1.31, 15.49)] were found to be more stunted. Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, the children born from unintended pregnancies exhibited a significantly higher risk of stunting. Therefore, preventing unintended pregnancy could play a great role in decreasing the risk of stunting in children.

In spite of the massive spending and extensive family-planning promotion, many poor people in the third world remain reluctant to use modern contraceptive method. Mostly when they use modern contraceptives, their continuation rates are often low. Reproductive health can improve women’s nutrition; in return better nutrition can improve reproductive health. Thus addressing the connection between nutrition and reproductive health is critical to ensure population growth that does not overwhelm world resources. A community based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 15–30, 2014 in Soddo Zuria Woreda, Southern Ethiopia. A total of 651 currently married women of reproductive age group were selected using multistage sampling. Probability proportional to the size allocation method was employed to determine the number of households. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association between family planning use and food security status after adjusting for other covariates. Use of modern contraceptive method was significantly low among food insecure women (29.7 %) compared to those who were food secure (52.0 %), (P < 0.001). Women from food secure households were nearly twice likely to use modern contraceptive methods (AOR: 1.69 (CI: 1.03, 2.66)). Similarly, those who had antenatal care (ANC) visit (AOR: 4.56 (CI: 2.45, 7.05)); exposure to media (AOR: 4.92 (CI: 1.84, 13.79)) and those who discussed about contraceptive methods with their partner (AOR: 3.07 (CI: 1.86, 5.22)) were more likely to use modern contraceptive methods. Conversely, women who delivered their last child at home were less likely to use modern contraceptive methods (AOR: 0.08 (CI: 0.03, 0.13)). Food insecurity is negatively associated with modern contraceptive method use. Thus food insecurity should be considered as one of the barriers in designing family planning services and needs special arrangement.