Why are our children wasting? Predictors of wasting among under five’s in Ghana

Eugene K. M. Darteh, University of Cape Coast
Evelyn Acquah, University of Cape Coast

Wasting is one of the indicators of malnutrition known to contribute to the deaths occuring from childhood malnutrition. It is the measure of body mass in relation to body length to explain recent nutritional status. We examine the predictors of wasting among children in Ghana using data from the children recode file of the 2008 Demographic and Health Survey. A total of 2379 children under five years with valid anthropometric data were used. Data on the wasting were collected by measuring the weight and of all children under six years of age. Bi-variate and multi-variate statistics are used to examine the predictors of wasting. Children aged 6-8 months had the highest odd of wasting. Region and ethnicity were significantly related to wasting. Culturally appropriate interventions and policies should be put in place to minimise the effects of distal factors on wasting among under 5 children.