FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH MALNUTRITION OCCURRENCE AMONG CHILDREN UNDER 5 YEARS IN KIHENDA VILLAGE HOIMA DISTRICT. A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Abstract

Background Malnutrition refers to deficiency, excess, or imbalance in a person’s energy and/or nutrient intake). The study aims to assess the Factors associated with malnutrition occurrence among children under 5 years in Kihenda village Hoima district. Methodology A cross-sectional descriptive study where the Simple Random sampling method was used to select the 100 respondents from which quantitative data was collected. Results The majority 46(77%) reported that working long hours of parents contributed to malnutrition and the minority 14(23%) reported that it did not affect malnutrition. 48(80%) majority of teenage mothers reported that age contributed to malnutrition whereas the minority of 10(17%) and 02(03%) of adult mothers never agreed. Majority of children in families 78(78%) were found to be normal while the minority 07(07%) stunted, 06(06%) underweight and 09(09%) wasted. Majority of the respondents’ families had children 64(64%) of 3 to 5 whereas 23(23%) of 0 to 2, 08(08%) of 6 to 8, and 05(05%) of 10 to 12 as the minority.The majority of the respondents 60(60%) had ever heard about malnutrition while the minority 40(40%) of them had not. The majority of the respondents 55(55%) did not know that the first breast milk was important to the child whereas the minority 45(45%) knew that the first breast milk was important. Conclusion A Variety of factors like age of caretakers, number of children in the household, long working hours of caretakers, insufficient Knowledge, and poor attitudes about proper nutrition were closely associated with Malnutrition. Recommendation There should be increased campaigns with feasible knowledge that is applicable in rural areas, and this could be through empowering the Village Health Teams in these areas by the government of Uganda and the Ministry of Health to improve the nutrition status of children below 5 years.