Etude des facteurs associés à l’état nutritionnel des adolescentes de 10 à 19 ans dans l’ancienne commune Bubanza, ancienne province de Bubanza au Burundi

Abstract

Introduction: The nutritional status of adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 years is a key indicator of public health and socioeconomic development in a community. This study aims to analyze the factors associated with the nutritional status of adolescent girls in the former Bubanza commune. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional analytical study conducted on 237 adolescent girls aged between 10 and 19 years from randomly selected households. An informed consent form was obtained from the participants before their inclusion in the study; anthropometric measurements (weight and height) and a questionnaire were used to collect data. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were performed. Data analysis was carried out using STATA 15.1 software, considering a 5% risk of error (α). Variables with p < 0.20 were retained for the multivariate analysis, and those with p < 0.05 were considered significantly associated with the nutritional status of adolescents. The final model was tested to assess its reliability using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: Among the 237 adolescent girls in the study, 28% (95% CI: [0,22 - 0,34]) had an abnormal nutritional status. Malnutrition was noted in 26.7% of cases and overweight in 1.3% of cases. Multivariate analysis identified several factors significantly associated with the nutritional status of adolescents aged 10 to 19, notably the adolescent's age (age between 14 and 16 years: OR = 8.02; 95% CI: [7.97 – 11.50]; p=0,000 and 17 to 19 years: OR = 24; 95% CI: [7.97 – 72.22]; p=0,000), access to food: OR = 3.88; 95% CI: [1.53 – 9.84]; p=0,004, food infrastructure: OR = 2.62; 95% CI: [1.22 – 5.60]; p=0,013, and nutritional knowledge: OR = 3.57; 95% CI: [1.44 – 8.86]; p=0,006. Conclusion: To improve the nutritional status of adolescent girls in the former Bubanza commune, interventions should take into account sociodemographic factors (age of the adolescent), environmental factors (access to food, food infrastructure), and behavioral factors (nutritional knowledge) associated with the nutritional status of adolescent girls.