The prevalence of malnutrition and Some associated factors among Pre-school children in an urban Slum, Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya

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