Background: Stunting is one of the major nutritional problems of children less than 5 years old. In Ethiopia, about 38 percent children less than five years old are stunted. In the national nutrition strategies, Ethiopia has set stunting reduction as one goal of the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), food fortification and supplementation being a part of the strategies. This cross-sectional study was part of a field trial on anaemia prevention in a rural district of Hawassa in southern Ethiopia (Pan African Clinical Trials Registry number, PACTR201705002283263).

Objectives: Assessing the prevalence of stunting and its determinant factors, the coverage of food fortification and micronutrient supplementation among children aged 2-5 years old in the study area.

Methods: We randomly selected 340 eligible children aged 2–5 years old from a census of 1,685 children. Structured questionnaires were used to collect child and household information. Haemoglobin levels were determined using Hemocue® 301. Anthropometric measurements were calculated according to WHO Child Growth Standards. The dependant variable stunting was analysed on the respective risk factors using  bi-variable and hierarchical  multi-variable logistic regression models.

Results: The stunting prevalence was 37.8% (125 of 331 children). Few children used fortified foods (15 children; 4.3%), and iron supplementation (10 children; 3.0%).  Increasing age [AOR: 1.13 (95% CI 1.1, 1.2)], moderate household food insecurity [AOR: 2.56 (1.2, 5.6), and increased age of complementary food initiation [AOR: 1.49 (1.1, 2.2)] were associated with increased risk of stunting. Father’s education [AOR: 0.91 (0.8, 0.9)], increased meal frequency [AOR: 0.62 (0.4, 0.9)] and increased haemoglobin [AOR: 0.56 (0.4, 0.7)] were associated with decreased risk of stunting.

Conclusions: In our study, 37.8% of children aged 2–5 years were stunted. Even though stunting prevalence was high, the frequency of micronutrient supplementation and the consumption of fortified food coverage were very low.

Key words: stunting, fortification, supplementation, haemoglobin, household food insecurity.