{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,24]],"date-time":"2026-10-24T04:29:26Z","timestamp":1792816166108,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,25]],"date-time":"2024-04-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1714003200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Undernutrition poses a significant global public health challenge, adversely affecting childhood cognitive and physical development while increasing the risk of disease and mortality. Stunting, characterized by impaired growth and development in children due to insufficient psychological stimulation, frequent infections, and inadequate nutrition, remains a critical issue. Although economic growth alone cannot fully address the prevalence of stunting, there exists a robust correlation between a country\u2019s income level and childhood stunting rates. Countries with higher incomes tend to have lower rates of childhood stunting. Notably, while childhood stunting is declining worldwide, it remains persistent in Africa. Consequently, this study aims to assess the prevalence of childhood stunting and its determinants in low- and lower-middle-income African countries<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Method<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study conducted a secondary analysis of standard demographic and health surveys in low- and lower-middle-income African countries spanning the period from 2010 to 2022. The analysis included a total sample of 204,214 weighted children under the age of five years. To identify the determinants of stunting, we employed a multilevel mixed-effect model, considering the three levels of variables. The measures of association (fixed effect) were determined using the adjusted odds ratio at a 95% confidence interval. Significance was declared when the association between the outcome variable and the explanatory variable had a p-value less than 0.05.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Result<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In low and lower-middle-income African countries, 31.28% of children under five years old experience stunting, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 31.08% to 31.48%. The results from a multilevel mixed-effect analysis revealed that 24 months or more of age of child, male gender, low and high birth weight, low and high maternal BMI, no and low maternal education, low household wealth index, multiple (twin or triplet) births, rural residence, and low income of countries were significantly associated with childhood stunting.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Stunting among children under five years of age in low- and lower-middle-income African countries was relatively high. Individual, community, and country-level factors were statistically associated with childhood stunting. Equally importantly, with child, maternal, and community factors of stunting, the income of countries needs to be considered in providing nutritional interventions to mitigate childhood stunting in Africa.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0302212","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,25]],"date-time":"2024-04-25T13:35:20Z","timestamp":1714052120000},"page":"e0302212","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":35,"title":["Prevalence of childhood stunting and determinants in low and lower-middle income African countries: Evidence from standard demographic and health survey"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0760-1100","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Tadesse Tarik","family":"Tamir","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Soliyana Adisu","family":"Gezhegn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dejen Tegegne","family":"Dagnew","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abebe Tilahun","family":"Mekonenne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Genetu Tadese","family":"Aweke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ayenew Molla","family":"Lakew","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0302212.ref001","first-page":"6","volume-title":"Updates on the management of severe acute malnutrition in infants and children","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2013"},{"key":"pone.0302212.ref002","volume-title":"Global nutrition targets 2025: Stunting policy brief.","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2014"},{"key":"pone.0302212.ref003","unstructured":"Organization, W.H., Stunting prevalence among children under 5 years of age (%)(JME)."},{"key":"pone.0302212.ref004","author":"Organization, W.H. and UNICEF","year":"2022","journal-title":"WHO\/WB Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) group released new data for 2021"},{"issue":"9890","key":"pone.0302212.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"427","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(13)60937-X","article-title":"Maternal and child undernutrition and overweight in low-income and middle-income countries","volume":"382","author":"R.E. 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