Association between socio-economic factors and nutritional status of under-five years old children in Lusaka, Zambia
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Date
2019
Authors
Kankhuni, Beatrice
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
Nutritional status of under- five children remains a sensitive indicator of Africa‟s health and
socio-economic conditions. A few studies acknowledge the importance and the role of nonnutritional
factors in determining the nutritional status of under- five children at household level.
This study investigated the association between socio-economic factors and nutritional status of
under- five children in selected residential areas in Lusaka district of Zambia. A cross-sectional
descriptive study was conducted with a total of 406 children from different households who were
randomly sampled and the nutritional status of every under- five child from each household was
assessed using anthropometric measurements graded according to the World Health Organization
classification. Data were collected using pre-tested questionnaires from the month of May 2017
to June 2017. Anthropometric measurements of weight, height and mid upper arm circumference
were done using a Seca battery scale, height board and Mid Upper Arm Circumference tape
respectively. Measurements from both the height and weight were used in computing weight-forage
and weight-for-height data using World Health Organisation Anthroplus ver.3.2.2. Data
analysis was done using World Health Organisation Anthroplus ver.3.2.2 and Statistical Package
for Social Sciences computer software ver.20.The Pearson Chi square significance of association
was determined at level of significance less than 0.05.The study found the prevalence of wasting
and underweight to be at 7.4 percent and 12.3 percent respectively. Children who were measured
with Mid Upper Arm Circumference below 12.5cm were 3.4 percent while those between 12.5-
13.5cm were 18.2 percent and those above 13.5cm were 78.3 percent .There was a significant
association between children nutritional status (Weight-for-Age and Weight-for-Height) and
some socio-economic factors such as residence (Weight-for-Age, P=0.002 and Weight-for-
Height, P=0.014), education level (Weight-for-Age, P=0.001 and Weight-for-Height, P=0.001),
sources of water (Weight-for-Age, P=0.001 and Weight-for-Height, P=0.001) and toilet
availability (Weight-for-Age, P=0.018 and Weight-for-Height, P=0.001),employment status
(Weight-for-Age, P=0.001 and Weight-for-Height,0.001).Type of toilet was not significantly
related to (Weight-for-Height =0.215) but significantly related to nutritional status(Weight-for-
Age, P=0.001) while household income had a significant relationship with (Weight-for-Age,
P=0.002 but not with(Weight-for-Height (P=0.464).The results showed that poor nutrition is a
major problem among the under- five children due to the poor socio-economic factors of their
parents. Therefore, identification of the core factors influencing the nutrition of under- five
children can improve and support strategies that can alleviate child malnutrition and its
consequences in Zambia.
Keywords; Underweight, Wasting, Social-economic status, Nutritional Status and Mid Upper
Arm Circumference
Description
Thesis
Keywords
Nutrition disorders in children--Zambia , Nutrition disorders in infant--Zambia