Relationship between Latrine Utilization and Stunting among Children under Five Years Old in Soutr Nikum Operational Health District (OD), Siem Reap Province, Cambodia

Keywords

Latrine utilization, stunting, Soutr Nikum, relationship

Abstract

Introduction
The prevalence of stunting, (how short children compared to their age) among children aged under 5
years in Siem Reap province is higher (36%), than the national average, while the latrine utilization in
the rural areas is as low as about 40%. . The study objective is to access the relationship between the
latrine utilization and stunting among children under 5 years old in the Soutr Nikum Operational
Health District (OD), Siem Reap province, Cambodia.
Methods
Data from a community based cross-sectional study, conducted from the mid of November to
December 2016 at the Soutr Nikum Operational Health District was used. A total of 602 mother-child
paired was included in the analysis. Mothers who had children aged 0-59 months were selected from
the updated census in the Soutr Nikum OD, conducted by WVI-C team. The mothers were interviewed
using structure questionnaire, and children’s anthropometry was measured. A forward stepwise
selection multivariable logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify the relationship
between latrine utilization and stunting among children under 5 at the time of the survey.
Results
Overall, 28.8% of the children were stunted and 61.1% of households had accessed to improved
sanitation facility. There was no significant association between latrine use and stunting. However,
child’s gender and age, child with low birth weight (<2500 grams), and maternal dietary diversity food
consumption at pregnancy were associated with the stunting. Boys were more likely to have higher
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stunting than girls (AOR = 1.50, 95% CI: 1.01-2.23, p=0.042), children aged 6-23 months (AOR = 4.44,
95% CI: 1.29-15.30, p=0.018) and 24-59 months (AOR = 10.96, 95% CI: 3.22-37.21, p<0.001), children
with low weight at birth (AOR = 3.47, 95% CI: 1.82-6.61, p<0.001), and maternal dietary diversity food
consumption less than 4 food groups at pregnancy were found to be strongly associated with higher
risk of stunting (AOR = 1.89, 95% CI: 1.08-3.33, p=0.026).
Conclusion
The study demonstrated that no relationship between latrine utilization and stunting among children
aged under 5 years in Soutr Nikum OD, but there are significant association with stunting when being
a male child, having lower birth weight, having older age and the maternal diversity food consumption
less than 4 food groups. Further efforts to reduce the prevalence of stunting among children and
increase the coverage of latrine utilization require a multi sectoral approaches. Moreover, additional
research should be conducted to add the observation of latrine utilization among children.