| dc.description.abstract | This study sought to establish whether the male and female children aged 6 - 59
months in Narok District are provided with similar feeding and health care practices.
In addition, the involvement of the mothers and fathers in the responsibility of
ensuring that their children's right to adequate food is actualised was also studied. It
was hypothesized at the onset that male children had better nutrient intake than their
female counterparts and that the increased involvement of the fathers' in childcare as
well as the mothers awareness of the right of the child to adequate food, result in well
nourished children.
A cross sectional study was conducted among 271 Maasai households with children
aged between 6 - 59 months in Nkareta and Oletukat locations ofNarok District
between August and September 2005. A combination of purposive and random
sampling was used to include 2 locations, 6 villages and 271 households. Quantitative
and qualitative data was collected through interviews, focus group discussions,
anthropometric measurements and dietary assessment. A structured questionnaire and
focus group discussion guide were developed to capture the information.
Results indicated that the mean duration of exclusive breastfeeding was 3.7 months,
while that of total breastfeeding was 2.4 years. However no significant difference
between the male and female children was found (P= 0.1 t test) for exclusive
breastfeeding and (P=0.7 t test) for total breastfeeding. The mean caloric intake was
1032.8 (males) and 1199.4 (females), while that of vitamin A was 182.8 (males) and
153.8(females). The mean age for introduction of complementary foods was 3.7
months, but without a significant difference between the gender (t test, P=0.2). While
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51.7% of the children were taken to health facilities when they were unwell, 41. 7% of
them were given traditional herbs at home. The immunization coverage established in
the study was 72.3%. Stunting levels were found to be 4.4%, while 14.4% and 28.1 %
of the children were underweight and wasted respectively. The main roles the fathers
played were in food production and decision-making. Only 5% of the mothers were
aware of the right to adequate food.
The study therefore concludes that male children did not have better nutrient intakes
than the female. No correlation was found to exist between the involvement of fathers
and their childrens' nutritional status, however a strong positive relationship between
the mothers' awareness of the right to adequate food and the nutritional status of her
child. | en |
