Nutritional Status Among Female adolescents aged (15 – 19 years) in Zambia: Why it Matters.

Abstract

Background The improvement of adolescent (15 – 19) nutritional status may help address the reduction of all forms ofmalnutrition in a given country. This is because at this stage, they experience a growth spurt thus increasing the need for most nutrients, such as protein and vitamins which are needed for growth and also aids their future reproductive health. Therefore, the study aimed at assessing the levels of female adolescents’ nutritional status and their associated factors in Zambia. Methods The study utilised nationally representative sample of secondary data from the 2007 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey consisting of 1569 adolescents with weight and height taken. Results Adolescent girl underweight was measured using the 2007 WHO internationally agreed upon standards of BMI categorisation. Adolescent underweight was high 13.7 percent. When disaggregated by place of residence, education and wealth index differences were noticed the relationships between adolescents and the variables were also noticed. Adolescents in rural areas were more likely to be underweight (OR=0.704, 95%CI: 0.527, 0.941; p=0.018). In addition, adolescents with primary educational level (OR=0.538, 95%CI: 0.397, 0.728; p<0.001) and from poorest or poorer and middle households were more likely to differences exist between urban (M=3.63, SD=1.72) and rural (M=2.91, SD=1.43; t(222)=3.88, p<0.001) adolescents in terms of dietary intake. Further, consumption micronutrient rich foods such as vitamin A and haem-iron are very low with the exception of dark leaf vegetables. Conclusions Therefore, it can be seen that adolescent nutrition in Zambia requires urgent attention, and since there are multifaceted factors affecting it, strategies are required to improve diet diversification and socio-economic status of adolescents if better results are too be realised in future. Further, there is need for future research to assess the actual nutrient and mineral intake by female adolescents with disaggregation between rural and urban if effective interventions are to be made and positive changes in adolescent nutritional outcomes are to be seen for years to come.