COMPLETE SCHOOL PROJECT TOPICS & MATERIALS :
CHAPTERS: Chapter 1-5
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ABSTRACT
Malnutrition remains a major public health and developmental challenge worldwide. It constitutes a grave problem because it accounts for the deaths of 3.5 million children under five years of age every year. Its scale continues to be elevated in sub Saharan nations, Nigeria included. Consequently, the principal aim of this investigation was to evaluate the factors linked with malnutrition among children under five years of age in Ewoyi community, Esan Northeast, Uromi, Edo State. A facility based cross sectional study was carried out in July 2024 to determine the nutritional status of children aged zero to fifty nine (0–59) months attending the facility and to identify the factors that contribute to malnutrition within the community. Altogether, three hundred and twenty eight (328) children together with their caregivers took part. A pre tested, structured questionnaire administered by interviewers, covering mothers’ childcare practices, socio demographic characteristics of mothers and children, and anthropometric measurements, was employed to collect information. Systematic sampling was applied to select the caregivers across a three week period. The nutritional indicators recorded were height, weight and mid upper arm circumference. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel 2013. WHO Anthro Plus software version 3.2.2 was utilised to calculate the z scores, while STATA 15 was used to conduct univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses. The overall prevalence of malnutrition stood at 78.05 %. The prevalence of stunting was 55.7 % and that of underweight was 31.7 %. In addition, 3.85 % of the children presented with severe acute malnutrition and 15.85 % with moderate acute malnutrition. Of the mothers, 6.71 % were younger than 20 years (teenagers)—a notable proportion of adolescent mothers—while 93.29 % were adult mothers. The factors found to be associated with, and to contribute to, the occurrence of malnutrition among under fives in the study area were maternal age, the mother’s hygiene practices, sanitation conditions, source of drinking water, and a recent history of diarrhoea or respiratory tract infection. It was further observed that the largest share of malnourished children belonged to the 6–20 month age group. Multivariate analysis indicated that older mothers were less likely to have a stunted child than younger mothers across all age categories relative to mothers under 20 years. Although the lowest prevalence of underweight occurred among infants aged 0–6 months (6.45 %), no clear pattern of underweight prevalence emerged with advancing age. These results imply that educational programmes on infant and young child care and feeding practices should be redesigned to match the characteristics of the population. Moreover, intensified efforts, including regular assessments, should be incorporated into existing interventions in order to lower the prevalence of malnutrition.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Malnutrition among children constitutes a principal public health problem, particularly in many low and middle income countries. It exerts a detrimental effect on national productivity and simultaneously generates economic and social difficulties among vulnerable populations. Inadequate nutrition is linked with suboptimal brain development, which in turn impairs cognitive development, educational attainment and economic productivity in later life (Coulter, 2014).
Malnutrition is a comprehensive term commonly used to denote undernutrition; it embraces every form of nutritional disorder and therefore includes both overnutrition and undernutrition (WHO Nutrition, 2016).
The World Health Organization characterises malnutrition as a cellular imbalance between the supply of nutrients and energy and the body’s requirements for growth, maintenance and specific physiological functions. Malnutrition may be classified as chronic malnutrition (stunting) or acute malnutrition (underweight and wasting). It may also be described as macronutrient deficiency malnutrition (protein energy malnutrition) or micronutrient deficiency malnutrition (for example, iron deficiency). Two principal clinical forms of acute malnutrition are recognised: marasmus and kwashiorkor (WHO Nutrition, 2016).
Child growth remains the most widely employed indicator of children’s nutritional status. The first 1 000 days of life (0–23 months) represent a critical window during which rapid physical and mental development takes place (Walker et al., 2007).
The Sustainable Development Goals call for the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by halving both the number of people living on less than US$1.25 a day and the number of people suffering from hunger.
Of still greater importance are the uneven rates of progress recorded in different regions of the world. For example, the most substantial reduction in the prevalence of malnutrition has occurred in East Asia, especially in China, while notable improvements have been achieved in Latin America and the Caribbean. In contrast, limited progress has been observed in South Asia, where the prevalence of underweight remains markedly high, and sub Saharan Africa registered little or no change during the period 1990–2011.