Abstract
Malnutrition has been attributed to many deaths among under-five children in most of the developing countries including Nigeria. Understanding the determinants of malnutrition can provide insights in designing interventions for reducing the high rates of child malnutrition. This study focused on what determines the malnutrition of under-five children among rural households in the southwest, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select 395 households that had 487 under-five children. Data were collected on child’s, mother’s, household’s and community characteristics using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Information on the child’s nutrition status was obtained using Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) tape. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logit model with STATA 14 statistical package. The results revealed that the average age of under-five children was about 25 months and over 50% of them are girls with a malnutrition rate of 44.0%. The child’s sex, the child’s birth interval, cultivated farm size, mother’s education, water source, and distance to nearest health center significantly determined the child’s malnutrition in rural areas of southwest Nigeria. Given the findings of this research, it is suggested that; mothers should be advised to use contraceptives for child spacing; farmers should be enlightened on the need to implement modern farming practices that lead to optimum yield per land cultivated rather than increasing the size of cultivated farmland; there should be an improvement on women’s education as well as a potable water source; and health care facilities close to respondents’ residence should be provided.
Highlights
Malnutrition occurs when there is imperfect or bad nutrition
This study distinguished itself from previous studies by examining what determined the malnutrition of under-five children among rural households in southwest, Nigeria using Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) tape to measure child’s nutrition status
The Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) method was employed to detect the presence of multi-collinearity among the explanatory variables
Summary
It can be either over or undernutrition It often starts before the child is giving birth to, and it is directly linked with poverty, low rates of education, and insufficient access to health care facilities (International Food Policy Research Institute, 2014; UNICEF/WHO/ World Bank, 2019). In Sub-Saharan Africa, the incidence of child stunting was 34% and 29.2% in West Africa Sub-region in 2017 (Food and Agricultural Organization, 2019, UNICEF/WHO/World Bank, 2019). Nigeria with a prevalence of 46% stunted under-five children UNICEF/WHO/World Bank, (2019) is the 12th highest in child malnutrition in the world, ahead of countries like Niger and Rwanda. The outcome of the National Demographic and Health Survey conducted in 2013 showed that the incidence of stunting (acute malnutrition) of under-five children was 37% and the rate of malnutrition was higher in rural than that of urban communities (NPC, 2014). This study distinguished itself from previous studies by examining what determined the malnutrition of under-five children among rural households in southwest, Nigeria using MUAC tape to measure child’s nutrition status
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
