Association between Child-related Factors and Wasting in Children Aged 6-59 Months in Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

Childhood malnutrition, particularly wasting, remains a significant and persistent challenge in Malaysian children under 5 years old, with current prevalence reported at 11% in 2022. Child-related factors, such as birth weight, morbidity, vaccination completeness, feeding practices, and dietary diversity have been found to provide a direct and immediate influence on children’s overall nutritional status. Considering the limited research examining the contribution of those factors on wasting, this study seeks to address this gap by evaluating the association between child-related factors and wasting among children aged 6-59 months in Selangor, Malaysia. This cross-sectional study was conducted from April to May 2024 at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Hospital, Universiti Putra Malaysia, involving 200 mother-children pairs recruited through purposive sampling who consented to participate. The data was collected through interview-based questionnaires comprising the sociodemographic profile, child characteristics, feeding practices, and recent infections, followed by a dietary diversity assessment using 24-hour dietary recall. Using the chi-square test, only birth weight (p=0.045), presence of infections (p=0.007), diarrhoea (p=0.008), and children’s overall DD (p=0.021) were significantly associated with wasting, while the other parameters were insignificant. However, further analysis using the multiple logistic regression only found significant association between diarrhoea and wasting (p=0.011; OR=2.83, 95% CI 1.275-6.279) and children’s overall DD and wasting (p=0.013, OR=0.587, 95% CI 0.385-0.894). Future studies addressing the limitations of this research are required to ensure the robustness and applicability of the findings.