The prevalence of under nutrition and its associated factors among children aged between 12 and 59 months in the paediatric unit of Jinja Regional Referral Hospital
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Date
2019-01
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Publisher
Kampala International University, School of Health Sciences
Abstract
Worldwide, its estimated that under nutrition accounts for 54% of mortality in children, and also estimated that eighty percent of undernourished children living in the developing countries live in countries that produce plenty of food. Out of 34 countries that account for 90% of the global burden of under nutrition, 22 are in Africa, and out of that, 52 million children are acutely undernourished, 13.8 million live in Sub-Saharan. According to UNICEF 2015, eastern and southern Africa had 25 million (40%) of children under five of age were suffering from stunting also referred to as chronic under nutrition, in addition, 18% of the under-fives were underweight and 7% were suffering chronic under nutrition. Under nutrition is a major developmental concern in Uganda, affecting all regions equally. It has been known as the skeleton in the hospital closet because it’s overlooked, undiagnosed and untreated by health practitioners. The study was a hospital based cross sectional descriptive study to determine the prevalence of under nutrition, biological factors and medical conditions among children aged between 12 months and 59 months who are admitted on the paediatric unit of Jinja regional referral hospital. All children who were admitted on various wards of the paediatric unit including the nutritional unit were assessed for eligibility after the primary reason for admission had been taken care of and any urgent resuscitation (if required) had been done. A written informed consent statement was ascertained from mothers. Data including Nutritional assessment, biological factors, and medical conditions was collected from all wards and from special clinics like sickle cell clinic, neurology clinic, and HIV patient’s clinic. It was found out that the prevalence of under nutrition was high. Majority of children were stunted, (21.74%) and (13.59%) were wasted. The findings of under nutrition were more prevalent in children with HIV/AIDS (35%), Cerebral palsy (25%), and sickle cell disease (40%) and among male children, those above two years, first borns, as well as those with a birth order of >4 and those with birth intervals of 2 years and above
Description
The prevalence of under nutrition and its associated factors among children aged between 12 and 59 months in the paediatric unit of Jinja Regional Referral Hospital
Keywords
Under nutrition, Children, Paediatric unit, Jinja Regional Referral Hospital