Page 174 - GHES-2-1

Global Health Econ Sustain Household food insecurity and Under-five Mortality

Table 3. Coefficients and odds ratio of under‑five mortality present study’s results indicate a higher rate compared to
in Lideta Sub‑City, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia the average world index, which stands at 3.4%, but is nearly
comparable to the figure reported in the previous 2016
Variables B Sig. Exp (b) 95% CI for Exp (b) Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey Report (6.7%)
Birth order and lower than the rate reported in a study conducted in
<2 −2.77 0.000** 0.06 0.01 0.28 Chad (13%) (Ahinkorah et al., 2020; CSA, 2016). Potential
>2 1.00 causes of this variance could arise from dissimilarities in
Sex of child socioeconomic status between countries, the presence of
Male −1.60 0.035* 0.20 0.05 0.89 universal health coverage, disparities in the timing of the
Female 1.00 studies, and variations in study settings (Ayele et al., 2022).
Children ever born (Parity) 4.1. Household food insecurity and under-five
>4 0.77 0.035* 2.17 1.06 4.44 mortality
<4 1.00 Based on the findings, women from food-insecure
Initiation of breast feeding households were 3.89 times more likely to experience
Immediately −1.90 0.000** 0.15 0.08 0.28 under-five mortality compared to women from food-secure
Not-immediately 1.00 households. This finding is consistent with similar findings
Household food insecurity status from studies conducted by Beyene (2023) in sub-Saharan
Food-insecure 1.36 0.012* 3.89 1.35 11.16 Africa and Campbell et al. (2009) in rural Indonesia.
In addition, Cassidy et al. (2022) confirmed in a study
Food-secure 1.00 conducted in North Carolina, United States of America,
Women education that household food insecurity is positively correlated
Informal −0.57 0.399 0.57 0.15 2.13 with infant mortality. Moreover, Walker et al. (2019) have
Primary −1.04 0.081 0.35 0.11 1.14 demonstrated in their study that food insecurity is related
Secondary −1.60 0.011* 0.20 0.06 0.69 to adult mortality. They found that individuals reporting
Above Diploma −3.13 0.007** 0.04 0.00 0.43 severe food insecurity had twice the probability of mortality
compared to those with adequate access to food, after
Uneducated 1.00 controlling for demographic factors. The increased risk of
Age at first birth
mortality among children in food-insecure households can
20-24 −1.51 0.010* 0.22 0.07 0.70 be attributed to higher susceptibility to illnesses and the
25-29 0.34 0.504 1.41 0.51 3.88 consequent need for hospitalization. They may encounter
>30 1.18 0.051 3.27 1.12 9.58 impediments in their physical development, resulting in
15-19 1.00 stunted growth, where they are unable to achieve their
Age of child −0.89 0.000** 2.29 1.46 3.58 maximum potential physique. Furthermore, they may
experience developmental disabilities that hinder their
Notes: *p<0.05, indicating statistical significance; **p<0.01, indicating physical, cognitive, and emotional advancement (Fram
highly statistical significance; 1.00=Reference category.
et al., 2015).
woman gives birth for the first time was found to have a 4.2. Maternal characteristics and under-five
statistically significant effect on under-five mortality, with mortality
a significance level of p < 0.05. Elevating the age of first The study identified maternal education, age at first birth,
childbirth from the range of 15 – 19 years to 20 – 24 years and the number of children ever born as strong predictors
resulted in a significant 78% reduction in the likelihood of of under-five mortality. Specifically, the odds of under-five
childhood mortality. mortality increased by 2.17 times when women had more
4. Discussion than four children. This increment is attributed to the fact
that children from smaller families tend to experience
Under-five mortality is a crucial metric for assessing child superior nourishment, improved health outcomes, and
survival rates and serves as a key indicator of the general enhanced chances of survival compared to their peers
health and overall prosperity of the broader population. from larger families.
In this study, the prevalence of under-five mortality was Evidence suggests that advancing from no education to
found to be 7.2%, which is higher than the rate reported tertiary education reduces the risk of under-five mortality,
by Ayele et al. (2022) in Ethiopia, which was 5.76%. The consistent with the findings of Ahinkorah et al. (2022) yet

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2024) 7 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.1682