Malnutrition among Children under 5 Does Not Correlate with Higher Socio Economic Status of Parents in Rural Communities

Abstract

Introduction: Understanding the socioeconomic characteristics of families with undernourished children is very critical to providing solution to the menace especially in rural communities where there is complexity in the relationship between economic activities, education and parental care and the undernutrition. Objectives: The study is aimed at understanding the nutritional status of children under the age of 5 years in relation to the socio economic status of the family so as to determine causes of vulnerability. Methods: Hospital based cross sectional study was carried among 505 children under the age of 5 years, taking measurement of their Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) using standard techniques and also taking records of their families' socioeconomic data using structured questionnaire. Results: Record of nutritional status of the children sampled shows that undernourished children were 345 (68.3%) and the nourished were 160 (31.7%). The number of times each child felt sick within the last one year shows that out of the total 505 children, 140 (27.72%) fell sick once, 155 (30.69%) fall sick twice in the previous year, 65 (12.87%) felt sick three times, 55 (10.89%) felt sick four times due to either malaria, undernutrition or other factors. Children born to farmers, constituting 51.5% of the sampled children have as high as 69.2% prevalence of undernutrition, compared to those born to beggars (0%). The highest prevalence is recorded in children born to petty traders (80%), followed by government workers and commercial motorcyclist with 75% each. Prevalence of 100% was recorded in the sampled children whose father attains tertiary level of education, followed by those who attain only secondary level of education (68%). Conclu- There is high prevalence of undernutrition among children in rural communities which is often underestimated for the fact that rural dwellers of Kano are mostly farmers and that they are adequate to provide for their children. Frequency of illnesses among the children of rural dwellers is associated with the nutritional status of the children. Malnutrition is not always dependent on the occupation and educational status of the parents or whether child parents are alive or not. Children of farmers and learned persons are also very susceptible to malnutrition in the rural communities of Kano. Nutritional education and programs should as well target all families with varied socioeconomic status, including farmers, petty traders and those with high educational status without making assumptions that they are less susceptible to malnutrition.

A Review of Selected Studies on the Factors Associated with the Nutrition Status of Children Under the Age of Five Years in South Africa

“…Therefore, the rapid growth of informal settlements around the world poses a threat to the world's nutritional status. Individuals who live in informal settlements are subjected to health challenges throughout a lifetime [56]. Therefore, children living in informal settlements are most likely to be vulnerable to malnutrition.…”