Cultural beliefs and practices as they relate to child malnutrition: A case study of Kibera slum village
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Date
2013-05-05Author
Owiti, Lillian A
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
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The present study aimed at investigating cultural
factors associated with the prevalence of
malnutrition among pre-school children in Kibera
slum area in Nairobi.
A random sample of 200 households with children
aged 6-60 months was selected using Stratified
Cluster sampling method. Questionnaires,
observation and anthropometric measurements were
instruments employed in collecting data. The
statistical package for the social sciences
(SPSS) was used for the data analysis. Chi-Square
tests were conducted to establish the
relationship between the dependent and
independent variables. The study revealed patterns of intra-familial
distribution of food that favour the adult and
elderly over young children. In most households,
the children were served last or ate after the
adults had eaten. These findings suggest that
improvement in nutrition cannot be achieved only
by increasing the supply of food available to the
households. Efforts must be made to improve the
utilization and distribution of that food once it
enters the home. The study also revealed that the mother's
knowledge of nutrition was inadequate. This was
exhibited in the weaning process of children. One
of the main problems identified by the study was
the introduction of inadequate supplementary and
weaning foods. The types of food introduced
varied but the ~ommon factor is that most of them
were carbohydrates. Commercial weaning foods also
appear to be gaining ground as a supplementary
food item when traditional weaning foods can
provide just as much nutritional value at a
fraction of the cost. Cultural beliefs with regard to childhood
malnutrition remain strong among Kibera
residents. In most cases the symptoms of
kwashiorkor and marasmus was not associated with
inadequate feeding but was seen as being caused
by the transgression of sexual taboos by the
parents. The treatment stemmed logically from the
perceived causation.
These findings clearly point to the need to
emphasise adequate supplementation at the ages of
4-6 . months with continued breast-feeding,
promotion of low cost locally available weaning
foods at the same time discouraging the use of commercial weaning foods as they are extremely
expensive. The mother's knowledge of nutrition
should also be enhanced in order to ensure
sufficient nutrient intake and nutritional
adequacy for pre-school children.