• Joselyne Rugema, Joselyne Mukantwari, Innocent Twagirayezu, Marie Jeanne Tuyisenge, Reverie Rutayisire, and Godfrey Katende.
• University of Rwanda College of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Nursing and Midwifery.
• Afr Health Sci. 2022 Dec 1; 22 (4): 671678671-678.

BackgroundGlobally, stunting affects 159 million Under-five-years-old (U-5) children. Stunting affects the physical, mental, and cognitive development of children increasing the risk of suffering and death. This paper aimed to determine the predictors and factors associated with stunting among under-five children in Rwanda.MethodsWe retrieved data from the Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (RDHS) 2014-2015 data set. A sample of 3599 U-5 eligible children with complete and valid anthropometric data was taken. Stata software was used to analyze the data extracted using a developed checklist. Descriptive statistics and Logistic regression analysis were performed to test the association between study variables.ResultsOf 3599 U-5 children, 37.5% of children were stunted. The demographic characteristics: age (p< 0.001), sex (p<0.001), and place of residence (p< 0.001) and Household wealth index (p <0.001) were associated with stunting. Age, sex, and household wealth index were predictors of stunting.ConclusionStunting is still a burden in Rwanda. Age and sex were predictors of stunting among children under 5 years of age. Household wealth index was a predictor and significantly associated with stunting among children U-5 years in Rwanda. Investing in the interventions that target maternal and nutrition health support is imperative.© 2022 Rugema J et al.

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