{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T13:28:35Z","timestamp":1791379715434,"version":"4.3.3"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,8]],"date-time":"2025-04-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1744070400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosglobalpublichealth.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLOS Glob Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The World Health Organization (WHO) has implemented various strategies to combat undernutrition in developing countries, with one of the most common recommendations being to breastfeed for two years or beyond. This is based on the belief that breast milk provides essential nutrition for growth and development, particularly in low-income settings. However, insufficient research explores the relationship between breastfeeding duration and undernutrition..The Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey 2000\u20132019 was used to perform the study, which included 18,580, children aged three and under. A multilevel logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between undernutrition status and independent variables, including breastfeeding duration. The strength of the association was assessed using an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The overall prevalence of undernutrition among children under 3 years of age was 51.8% (95% CI: 51.10, 52.54). Specifically, the prevalence of stunting was 42.9% (95% CI: 42.14, 43.56), followed by underweight at 30.28% (95% CI: 29.63, 30.92), and wasting at 13.84% (95% CI: 13.35, 12.04).Children breastfed into their third year of life were more likely to develop underweight (AOR: 1.55; 95% CI 1.41, 1.70) and stunting (AOR: 5.45; 95% CI 4.83, 6.15). Conversely, the likelihood of wasting decreased in children breastfeeding in their second and third year of life (AOR: 0.75; 95% CI 0.67, 0.83) and (AOR: 0.50; 95% CI 0.43, 0.60) respectively. Similarly, children who breastfed until the second year of life had a greater chance of underweight and stunting. This study highlights a significant prevalence of undernutrition among children. Children breastfed into their third year of life were more likely to experience underweight and stunting, while breastfeeding during this period was associated with a lower likelihood of wasting.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pgph.0004236","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,8]],"date-time":"2025-04-08T17:56:45Z","timestamp":1744135005000},"page":"e0004236","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pgph.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Extended breastfeeding for over one year is associated with a higher likelihood of underweight and stunting among children under 3 years of age in Ethiopia, EDHS from 2000\u20132019"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"5","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3014-0325","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Maleda","family":"Tefera","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haymanot","family":"Mezmur","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,8]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"pgph.0004236.ref001","first-page":"e2021168","article-title":"Early and long-term consequences of nutritional stunting: from childhood to adulthood","volume":"92","author":"V De Sanctis","year":"2021","journal-title":"Acta Biomed"},{"issue":"1","key":"pgph.0004236.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"805","DOI":"10.1186\/s13104-018-3909-1","article-title":"Nutritional status and correlation with academic performance among primary school children, northwest Ethiopia","volume":"11","author":"B Asmare","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMC Res Notes"},{"issue":"4","key":"pgph.0004236.ref003","first-page":"189","article-title":"Undernutrition","volume":"18","author":"K Maleta","year":"2006","journal-title":"Malawi Med J"},{"key":"pgph.0004236.ref004","author":"WHO","year":"2020"},{"key":"pgph.0004236.ref005","unstructured":"UNICEF. Malnutrition. 2022 https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/ethiopia\/media\/7801\/file\/UNICEF%20Ethiopia%20Annual%20Report%202022.pdf accessed date October 2023"},{"issue":"5","key":"pgph.0004236.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0177338","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0177338","article-title":"Child malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa: a meta-analysis of demographic and health surveys (2006-2016)","volume":"12","author":"BJ Akombi","year":"2017","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"2","key":"pgph.0004236.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.4314\/ejhs.v27i2.10","article-title":"Nutritional status of under five children in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"27","author":"A Abdulahi","year":"2017","journal-title":"Ethiop J Health Sci"},{"key":"pgph.0004236.ref008","unstructured":"EDHS. Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey 2019. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: EPHI\/FMoH\/ICF. 2019"},{"key":"pgph.0004236.ref009","unstructured":"WHO. 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(1998). Complementary feeding of young children in developing countries : a review of current scientific knowledge. World Health Organization. https:\/\/iris.who.int\/handle\/10665\/65932"},{"issue":"6941","key":"pgph.0004236.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1403","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.308.6941.1403","article-title":"Prolonged breast feeding, diarrhoeal disease, and survival of children in Guinea-Bissau","volume":"308","author":"K M\u00f8lbak","year":"1994","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"pgph.0004236.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"416","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(88)90411-4","article-title":"Does prolonged breastfeeding adversely affect a child\u2019s nutritional status?","volume":"332","author":"LA Brakohiapa","year":"1988b","journal-title":"Lancet"}],"container-title":["PLOS Global Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pgph.0004236","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,8]],"date-time":"2025-04-08T17:57:03Z","timestamp":1744135023000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pgph.0004236"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Dessalegn","family":"Tamiru","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,8]]},"references-count":20,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,8]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pgph.0004236","relation":{},"ISSN":["2767-3375"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2767-3375","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,8]]}}}