Thyroid and Pregnancy

The  Ethiopian  regions  have  a  relatively  higher  prevalence  of  under-nutrition  are  found  in  the lowlands of the country, with the exception of the highlands of Tigiray, where under-nutrition is also  prevalent.  A  community  based  comparative  cross-sectional  study  design  was  conducted from  January  27-  March  7,  2014.  Sample  size  was  determined  by  two  population  estimation formula. The total calculated sample size was 456. A stratified sampling technique was used to stratify  the  study  area  to  highland  and  lowland.  Study  participants  were  selected  by  simple random  sampling  technique.  Data  were  collected  using  anthropometric  measurements  and structured  questionnaire.  The  raw  data  were  entered  and  analyzed  using  SPSS  version  20.0. Multivariable  Logistic  regression  was  done  to  determine  the  association  between  explanatory variable  with  chronic  energy  deficiency  (CED)  using  body  mass  index  (BMI),  by  computing odds ratio at 95% confidence level. A P – value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. The prevalence of CED of lactating mothers from lowland and highland was 17.5% and 24.6% respectively: age, husband occupation, taking vitamin A immediately after delivery or within the first eight weeks after delivery and consumption of extra food during lactation time were factors associated with chronic energy deficiency for lowland lactating women whereas parity, number of meals per day and household consumption of iodized salt were factors associated with CED for  highland  lactating  women.  CED  in  both  comparative  studies  was  a  serious  public  health problem. As it is known food security does not mean nutritionally secured, Therefore, the need to develop nutrition intervention such as nutrition security programs to address under-nutrition in the study area is significant, as it was found food secured participants were slightly vulnerable than food  insecure. The  dietary  diversity  score  of  the  participants were very low so that encourage the community about nutrition diversification is substantial for  adequate nutrient intake.