Assessment of the relationship between socioeconomic and demographic factors to malnutrition among children aged 0 to 59 months attending Lira Regional Referral Hospital
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Date
2019-04
Authors
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Publisher
Kampala International University, School of Health Sciences
Abstract
Under-five malnutrition is still a global child health and public health problem with low- and middle- income countries especially in Africa bearing most of the brunt. Despite several strategies and objectives set to combat malnutrition in the world, not a single country is on track in achieving the set objectives this far. Varying progress has been reported from region to region with countries in sub-Saharan WHO region lagging way behind. Uganda is among the countries which has record high under-five malnutrition despite being labeled the pearl and Africa’s fruit and food basket by some. So many factors could explain this worrying trend; demographic and socioeconomic being among them. Little data exists on this subject matter in Lira, a District presumed to be among those with high malnutrition rates in Uganda. The study set out to assess the prevalence, socioeconomic and demographic factors associated with under-five malnutrition at Lira Regional Referral Hospital. This descriptive cross-sectional study involved 1,080 under-fives admitted at LRRH out of which 196 malnutrition cases were reported within the 3-month study period from January to March 2019. This gave a global prevalence of 18.02%, 6.99% being moderate and 11.04% being severe. Factors associated with under-five malnutrition were child age, male sex, rural family residence, young maternal age, low education status of mother, peasant existence, short birth interval and being the first or last born in the family. The high under-five malnutrition prevalence demands urgent intervention
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
Malnutrition, Children, Lira Regional Referral Hospital