| dc.description.abstract | A cross-sectional survey was carried out in Kibera, an urban
slum, Nairobi, Kenya to determine the prevalence of malnutrition
among pre-school children. The study covered 226 randomly
selected households with 335 pre-school children.
A structured questionnaire was used to obtain demographic, socioeconomic
and feeding pattern data, while anthropometry was used
to assess nutritional status.
The overall prevalence of stunting was 35.5%, while wasting and
underweight was 6.9% and 13.7%, respectively. The age of the
study children was negatively associated (P<O.O) with indicator
of stunting (HAZ).
The mean duration of breast feeding was 20.6 months. Mothers
breast feed mainly on the demand of their children. The mean age
of child weaning is 4.8 months with a range of 1-12 months. "Uji"
(porridge) is the most commonly used weaning food. Most mothers
in this study, not only continue breastfeeding (99.2%) their
children during diarrhoea, but continue feeding them other foods
(97.8%).
The prevalence of morbidity among the study children was high
(71.2%) with upper respiratory infection and diarrhoea accounting
for more than two-thirds of the reported illnesses.
High prevalence of gastro-intestinal parasite infest~on (72.6%)
was observed among the study children, with Ascaris lumbricoides
being the most prevalent (50.5%) parasite. And was significantly
associated with the nutritional status of the children (P<0.04).
In conclusion, the study once again highlighted that malnutrition
is a public health problem in this community and further showed
that health problems related to personal hygiene and
environmental sanitation | en |
