BACKGROUND Rwanda has made substantial economic progress over the past two decades. However, evidence suggests that malnutrition among children remains high in spite of this progress. This study aims to examine trends and potential risk factors associated with childhood stunting from 2000 to 2015 in Rwanda. METHODS Data for this study come from the 2000 to 2015 Rwanda's Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), a cross-sectional, population-based survey that is conducted every 5 years. Following prior work, we define stunting based on age and weight as reported in the DHS. We assess the overall prevalence of stunting among children under the age of 5 in Rwanda and then conduct bivariate analyses across a range of policy-relevant demographic, socioeconomic, and health variables. We then incorporate key variables in a multivariable analysis to identify those factors that are independently associated with stunting. RESULTS The prevalence of stunting among children under the age of 5 in Rwanda declined from 2000 (47.4%) to 2015 (38.3%), though rates were relatively stagnant between 2000 and 2010. Factors associated with higher rates of stunting included living in the lowest wealth quintile, having a mother with limited education, having a mother that smoked, being of the male sex, and being of low-birth weight. CONCLUSIONS Though overall stunting rates have improved nationally, these gains have been uneven. Furthering ongoing national policies to address these disparities while also working to reduce the overall risk of malnutrition will be necessary for Rwanda to reach its overall economic and health equity goals.

中文翻译：

---

2000年至2015年与卢旺达儿童发育迟缓相关的负担和风险因素趋势：政策和方案的影响。

背景技术卢旺达在过去的二十年中取得了实质性的经济进步。但是，有证据表明，尽管取得了这一进展，儿童中的营养不良仍然很高。这项研究旨在探讨卢旺达2000年至2015年与儿童发育迟缓相关的趋势和潜在危险因素。方法该研究的数据来自2000年至2015年卢旺达的人口与健康调查（DHS），这是一项基于人口的横断面调查，每5年进行一次。在先前的工作之后，我们根据DHS中报告的年龄和体重定义发育迟缓。我们评估了卢旺达5岁以下儿童的发育迟缓的总体患病率，然后对一系列与政策相关的人口统计，社会经济和健康变量进行了双变量分析。然后，我们将关键变量纳入多变量分析中，以识别与发育迟缓独立相关的那些因素。结果卢旺达5岁以下儿童的发育迟缓患病率从2000年（47.4％）下降至2015年（38.3％），尽管在2000年至2010年期间发育迟缓的比率相对停滞。五分之一的财富，有一个受过教育的母亲，有一个抽烟的母亲，是男性，并且体重较轻。结论尽管全国范围内的整体发育迟缓率有所提高，但这些增长并不均衡。卢旺达要实现其总体经济和健康平等目标，就必须采取进一步的国家政策来解决这些差距，同时努力降低营养不良的总体风险。