Volume 12, Issue 6 (June 2025), Pages: 182-189
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Original Research Paper
Risk factors for childhood underweight: A cross-sectional design-based logistic regression analysis
Author(s):
Zakariya M. S. Mohammed 1, 2, Ali Satty 2, Mohyaldein Salih 2, Sana A. Mohammed 3, Ola A. I. Osman 4, Faroug A. Abdalla 5, Ashraf F. A. Mahmoud 5, Ekramy Elmorsy 6, *
Affiliation(s):
1Center for Scientific Research and Entrepreneurship, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia 2Department of Mathematics, College of Science, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia 3Department of Statistics, Faculty of Mathematical Sciences and Informatics, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan 4Department of Finance and Insurance, College of Business Administration, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia 5Department of Computer Science, College of Science, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia 6Center for Health Research, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia
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* Corresponding Author.
Corresponding author's ORCID profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7444-2499
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2025.06.017
Abstract
Childhood undernutrition, especially underweight, remains a major public health concern in Yemen, worsened by ongoing conflict and economic hardship. This study aimed to identify risk factors associated with underweight among children under five years of age using data from the 2022–2023 Yemen Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), which included 19,561 children. Survey-weighted logistic regression was used to analyze the data, accounting for the complex survey design. Initial Chi-square tests were followed by bivariate and multivariable regression models to estimate unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (UORs and AORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results showed that male children had a higher risk of being underweight (AOR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.04–1.21). Children aged 36–47 months were at the greatest risk compared to those aged 0–5 months (AOR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.60–2.20). Household wealth was a strong predictor, with children from the poorest households having nearly four times the odds of being underweight compared to those from the richest households (AOR = 3.80, 95% CI: 3.04–4.74). Maternal education, access to improved water and sanitation, and availability of a hand-washing place were not statistically significant. These findings highlight the importance of addressing child sex, age, and poverty in efforts to reduce undernutrition and promote child health in Yemen’s challenging context.
© 2025 The Authors. Published by IASE.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Keywords
Childhood underweight, Complex survey, Multiple indicator cluster survey, Survey analysis, Yemen
Article history
Received 13 December 2024, Received in revised form 19 May 2025, Accepted 31 May 2025
Acknowledgment
The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at Northern Border University, Arar, KSA, for funding this research work through the project number “NBU-FFR-2025-1635-01.”
Compliance with ethical standards
Ethical considerations
Access to the dataset was granted after submitting a formal request via UNICEF’s MICS platform (http://mics.unicef.org/surveys). The 2022-2023 Yemen MICS dataset used in this analysis was publicly available and anonymized to protect the privacy of participants.
Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Citation:
Mohammed ZMS, Satty A, Salih M, Mohammed SA, Osman OAI, Abdalla FA, Mahmoud AFA, and Elmorsy E (2025). Risk factors for childhood underweight: A cross-sectional design-based logistic regression analysis. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 12(6): 182-189
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Tables
Table 1 Table 2 Table 3
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