Factors contributing to poor feeding patterns among the children aged under five years admitted to Lira Regional Referral Hospital, Lira District

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Date
2014-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Kampala International University, School of Health Sciences
Abstract
The issue of healthy eating or feeding has long been an important concern to individuals and communities. Feeding is the process of taking in food by an organism to provide them with nutritional needs necessary for growth and energy. The study assessed the factors contributing to poor feeding pattern among children under five years admitted in pediatric ward Lira Regional Referral Hospital. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study in which both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used. Among all the respondents that were interviewed, it was found that the greatest number of children who were hospitalized was of the age group 2-5 years and this accounted for 40% of the total respondents. This was attributed to the weaning effect as this is the age bracket where children are weaned from breast feeding and this could have affected their immune system. The results showed that up to about 70% of mothers did not have money at any one time which influences the feeding patterns and in the long run may lead to malnutrition among children under five. It was concluded that the main factor contributing to poor feeding among children under five in Lira Regional Referral Hospital was illnesses that caused loss of appetite and vomiting. However, poverty was another major contributing factor to poor feeding among the under five children
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Clinical Medicine and Dentistry in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery of Kampala International University
Keywords
Poor feeding patterns among the children aged under five years, Malnutrition, Lira Regional Referral Hospital, Lira District
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