Association between dietary intake, health status and nutritional status of children aged 6-23 months in Namwala and Mkushi districts of Zambia
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Date
2019
Authors
Hamaimbo, Bubala Thandie
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
Children with multiple measures of anthropometric failure are at a high risk of
morbidity and mortality as a result of malnutrition. Some of the factors that contribute
to the high levels of malnutrition which is described in forms of stunting, underweight,
overweight and wasting in children 6-23 months include poor infant stimulation and
nurturing, inadequate dietary nutrients and recurrent illnesses/infections which result
in poor absorption of nutrients, poor cognitive development, growth failure and weight
loss. These factors are common in developing countries such as Zambia where only
11% of children in this age group are fed appropriately according to WHO
recommendations. Based on this background, this cross sectional study was done with
the aim of investigating the association between dietary intake, prevalence of illnesses
and nutritional status of children aged 6-23 months in Namwala and Mkushi districts
of Zambia. A total of 213 children were enrolled, 108 and 105 from Namwala and
Mkushi, respectively. A detailed questionnaire, anthropometric assessment as well as
a complete stool analysis was done. Anthropometric, dietary intake, socioeconomic
and demographic data collected was analysed using Anthroplus, NutriSurvey and
SPSS version 23 software, respectively. The study revealed that none of the children
were infected with intestinal parasites. However, 65.7% of the children presented with
an illness two weeks prior and/or during the study. Illnesses identified in the study
group included fever, diarrhoea, vomiting and coughs. In the two sites combined, 5.2%
of the children did not meet the minimum dietary diversity requirements for this age
group. Overall in Namwala district, the prevalence of stunting was 11%, 3.7% wasting,
3.7% underweight, 6.5% overweight while Mkushi district had 19% stunting, 3.8%
wasting, 10.5% underweight and 5.7% overweight among children aged 6-23 months.
The mean Height-for-age Z scores between Namwala (-0.51 ± 1.40) and Mkushi (-
1.04 ± 0.95) were significantly different (t0.05 3.245). Using multiple regression, the
variables independently associated with HAZ scores in this study are child’s age
(months), household non-food expenditure and consumption of mabisi (fermented
milk). Health status was not significantly associated with nutritional status while
dietary diversity showed a weak positive association with child nutritional status.
Description
Thesis
Keywords
Malnutrition--Infants , Children--Nutrition--Zambia.