Stunting Trends in under 6 year Old Children Living in Rural area of Robat-Karim from 1997 to 2007: An Age-Period-Cohort Effect Analysis

The trend of stunting indicates of long term health status and the efficacy of different health interventions for chronic malnutrition in children. The objective of this study was to investigate the trends of stunting prevalence in preschool children living in rural area of Robat-Karim. The method of Age-Period-Cohort analysis was utilized. Existing height data of all children whom registered in health houses of Robat-Karim health network were converted to Standard Deviation Scores (SDS) using Anthro2005 software; The SDS≤ -2 for height-for-age was defined to be the moderate/severe forms of stunting. Age-Period-Cohort analysis was done with two graphical and statistical methods. The statistical method was based on logistic regression modeling in which stunting was assumed to be the dependent variable and age, birth cohort and time period were independent variables. Growth data of 970 (51.9%) boys and 898 (48.1%) girls were analyzed. The overall stunting prevalence was estimated 8.0%. This estimation by Logistic regression models (P<0.001) and graphical analyses were similar and showed that the prevalence of stunting has a decreasing trend in different birth cohorts and time periods. The prevalence of stunting was higher in the 2nd and 5th-6th years of life. The stunting prevalence was significantly higher in boys (9.3%) and non-Iranian children (9.5%) (P<0.001). The prevalence of stunting appears to be decreasing in the investigated population. Appropriate interventions is thought to be essential for reducing stunting of 2nd and 5th-6th years of life, boys, and non-Iranian children.