Prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight among children aged 6 to 59 months and adolescents in pastoral and semi-pastoral areas of Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

In Ethiopia’s pastoral areas, undernutrition continues to be a serious public health concern that has an impact on children’s development, growth, and long-term health. The purpose of this study was to estimate the pooled prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight in pastoral and semi-pastoral areas of Ethiopia. A thorough search was carried out using several important databases, such as Henari, PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science, AJOL, and institutional repositories of Ethiopian universities. After removing duplicates, 800 records were left out of the 1,510 that were first identified. After screening by title, abstract, and full-text, 13 studies were found to be eligible and added to the final meta-analysis. A random-effects model was used to compute the pooled prevalence estimates. This meta-analysis included 13 studies encompassing 7,769 children from pastoral and semi-pastoral regions of Ethiopia. The pooled prevalence of stunting was 39.3% (95% CI: 31.6%–47.1%), indicating a high burden of chronic malnutrition. The prevalence of wasting was 13.0% (95% CI: 9.0%–17.0%), while underweight affected 20.5% (95% CI: 14.7%–26.3%) of children. Subgroup analysis revealed regional variations, with the highest stunting rates observed in Benishangul-Gumuz and Afar regions. Considerable heterogeneity was found across studies (I² > 95%), and publication bias was detected for all three nutritional outcomes. Adjusted estimates using trim-and-fill analysis showed slightly lower prevalence’s. Undernutrition remains a critical public health issue among children in Ethiopia’s pastoral and semi-pastoral areas, with stunting and underweight affecting nearly two in five and one in five children, respectively. These rates surpass both national and global averages, underscoring the urgent need for region-specific nutrition interventions and policies that address the unique vulnerabilities of these communities.