Influence Of Childcare Practices On The Nutrition Status Of Under-Five Children In Ileje District Council, Songwe Region

ABSTRACT

Undernutrition is a big challenge in the world though the rate of stunting has been decreasing in the past two decades. Most of undernourished children are in developing countries, comprising about one quarter of all stunted children in the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of child care practices on the nutritional status of under five children in Ileje district, Songwe region, Tanzania. A cross sectional study involving of 365 children aged 0 - 59 months were assessed to determine their anthropometric measurements WAZ, HAZ and WHZ. A structured questionnaire was administered to collect data on childcare practices and demographic information from the caregivers/mothers. Data were coded and analyzed by ENA and Statistical Product for Social Services (SPSS) program, version 16. Results showed that, 33.4% of the children were stunted, 10.7% were underweight while 1.1% of the children were wasted. Multivariate analysis was done to find association between childcare practices and nutritional status. Feeding styles of the children, individual dietary diversity score, caregiver’s/mother’s ability to read and write, source of drinking water and participation in community organizations/social programs by the mother/caregiver were strongly associated (p = 0.05) with undernutrition. A standard multiple regression model analysis was done to find the factors that were strong predictors of the dependent variables. Factors which were strong predictors of stunting (low HAZ) were poor breastfeeding practices while recognition of child fullness during feeding by the mother/caregiver was a strong predictor for child underweight (low WAZ). Presence of chicken around the premises was a strong predictor for wasting (low WHZ) among children under the age of five years. It was concluded from this study that poor child care practices have positive influence on the anthropometric status of underfive children. It was recommended based on this study that Nutrition intervention programs which emphasizing positive social behavior change on iii childcare practices through nutrition education should be introduced in the community to cover all beneficiaries.