Relationship between nutritional status and the prevalence of malaria and anemia among children in the Kassena‐Nankana District of Ghana

Abstract

Under nutrition, malaria and anemia are significant public health concerns in Ghana, especially among children under five years. There is growing interest in the effects of nutritional status on clinical malaria outcomes in pre‐school age children.ObjectivesTo characterize the effects of indicators of dietary risk on clinical malaria during both the wet and dry seasons.MethodsCases of clinical malaria in the previous wet season (n=49) and dry season (n=60), and matched controls (wet season n=72, dry season n=55) were identified from records of the longitudinal Birth Cohort Study. Clinical indicators (Hgb, malaria parasitemia, weight) were extracted from study records, and household questionnaires captured indicators of household hunger, dietary diversity, household food security, and malaria risk behavior.ResultsSignificantly more cases of malaria in both the wet and dry seasons came from families who reported household hunger (McNemar p‐values <0.001 for both seasons). In the wet season, 22.5% of cases reported hunger, compared to 16.9% of the controls; in the dry season, cases reported 30% compared to 18.2% of the controls.ConclusionIndependent of season, hunger is associated with higher rates of clinical malaria among preschool aged children in the KND. Study funded by Wilbur G. Downs International Health Fellowship & Office of Student Research, Yale School of Medicine.