Determinants Of Nutritional Status Of Children Aged 6-59 Months In Marginal Mixed Farming Households In Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Marginal mixed farming households are prone to frequent drought and hardly meet their food intake requirements which make the under-five children more vulnerable to malnutrition. The purpose of this study was to establish the determinants of nutritional status of children aged 6-59 months in marginal mixed farming households in Ntugi location, Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya. A sample of 106 households was randomly selected for data collection. Structured questionnaires, key informant guide and focus group discussion guide was used to collect data on demographic and socio-economic characteristics, feeding practices, water and sanitation, morbidity status and health seeking behavior. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used in descriptive and inferential analysis. Anthropometric data was analyzed using ENA for SMART and interpreted using WHO (2006). The average household size was 5 members while the mean maternal age was 27.31 0.60years. More than half (67%) of mothers had not completed primary education. The mean household income was Ksh. 7,279 1446 mainly (53.6%) from sale of farm produce. The mean household productiosn from previous season was 236.89 22.21 kg of cereals/grains and 259.78 21.68kg of legumes/pulse. Continued breastfeeding rate at one year was 92.3% and 66.7% for two years and above. All breastfeeding infants aged 6-8 months met the minimum meal frequency requirement. Less than half (47.3%) of the children had minimum dietary diversity. Minimum acceptable diet rate was 21.2% and 25.0% for breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding children respectively. Majority (81.2%) of the children who were sick two weeks prior to the survey had fever. Sixty five (65%) percent of the children were fully immunized while 61.1% of children aged 6-11 had received vitamin A supplementation within the last six months. Use of bush to dispose human waste was at 15.5%. The study showed that the stunted children were 32.1%, 20.2% were underweight and 7.3% were wasted. The morbidity status in the last two weeks prior to the survey was at 29.4%. The Pearson’s chi-square test showed that there was a significant association between the age of the mother and wasting for children aged 6–59 months (p = 0.008). Further, the study established that underweight and wasting was associated with household size (p = 0.009 and 0.029 respectively). Seasonal household food production was also associated with underweight of children. The County Government of Tharaka Nithi needs to domesticate National Agricultural Sector and Extension Policy through legislation to improve and sustain food production in marginal mixed farming households in the County. A longitudinal study on household determinants of under-fives nutritional status is recommended for further study.