Household Wealth Index, Nutritional Status And Dietary Practices Of Children Aged 6-59 Months In Mogadishu, Somalia

Abstract

Somalia has been recorded to have one of the highest and inconsistently updated child under-nutrition levels. Nutrition interventions have been put in place but few evaluation studies are done as the region is war prone. Persistent conflict and harsh environmental conditions make it a necessity that the most vulnerable population be protected to reduce the high malnutrition levels. The current study determined wealth index, nutritional status and dietary practices amongst children aged between 6months to 59 months in study households at Mogadishu, Somalia. This study aimed to determine the relationship with wealth index of households and also to investigate important aspects linked to undernutrition in the area. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection under a cross-sectional study design. A sample size of 405 of households with kids of ages between 6 months and 59 months were randomly selected and mothers or caregivers were the respondents. Out of the 405 children who that were studied, 51 % of them were from low wealth index households. Majority of these households (60.1 %) had 5-6 persons living in the household therein. ANC attendance of the caregivers of these children was in the study area averaged at 64.0 %. The wealth index of the households of these children was significantly (p<0.05) connected with the rate of ANC attendance. Less optimal breastfeeding practices including use of prelacteal feeds (54%), nipple-feeding (63.7%) and bottle feeding (87.7%). Complementary feeding was initiated at the ages of 1-6(79.0%) and 6-12 months (21.0%). A higher proportion of caregivers from the low wealth index households used prelacteal foods (62%) of their children and breastfed in public (89%) as compared to the high wealth index households which had prelacteal foods of 46% and breastfeeding in public of 77%. About 90% of the children consumed more than 4 out 7 food groups pointing to a largely diverse diet and was not statistically different for high and low wealth index groups. Dairy xvi products, potatoes and tomatoes were the mostly consumed with about half of the children (50 %) consuming these foods daily. Water hygiene and sanitation (WASH) practices of the mother/ caregivers showed that sanitation and hygiene facilities including clean treated water, toilet and garbage pits were available to 95.0 %, 99.8 % and 86.0 %, respectively. Availability of garbage pit and water usage were significantly (p<0.05) linked to the wealth index of the households of these children. Upper respiratory infection and fever were the most prevalent illnesses occurring in 46.2 % and 22.7 % of the women. Preventive health services such as supplementation with vitamin A (90%), immunization (73%) and usage of mosquito net (81%) were administered to the children. There were incidences of wasting (11.0%), underweight (16.0%) and stunting (18.0%) among the children. The predictor response independent variables of wasting in kids of ages between 6 months to 59 months in the area of study was underweight, age of initiation of complimentary feeding, method of feeding, wealth index and income level (p<0.05, R2=0.20).The predictor response independent variables of stunting in kids of ages between 6 months to 59 months in the area of study was underweight and age of initiation of complimentary feeding (p<0.05, R2=0.35). In conclusion, Mogadishu has low rates of malnutrition but those with less than -1 z scores were high. In addition, there are few caregivers who practice sub-optimal child feeding and breastfeeding practices. However, there is need to concentrate interventions to lessen the number of children who are vulnerable to undernutrition in Mogadishu and also conduct similar studies especially in the other regions of Somalia.