Abstract
BackgroundRecent studies have presented conflicting findings about whether malaria is associated with an increased or decreased risk of malnutrition. Therefore, assessing the relationship between these two disastrous diseases in the most vulnerable groups, such as in children aged below 5 years (under-five children), may lead to the discovery of new low-cost and effective aides to current methods of malnutrition prevention in malaria-endemic areas. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the relationship between malaria and malnutrition among under five children in an area with a high degree of malaria transmission.MethodsThe study involved comparing malnourished children aged 6–59 months and nourished children of the same age for their past exposure to malaria, in Shashogo District, Southern Ethiopia. A validated structured questionnaire was used to collect home to home socioeconomic data and anthropometric instruments for clinical data. The collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics by means of EpiData entry software and STATA data analysis software.ResultsA total of 356 (89 malnourished and 267 nourished) under-five children participated in the study. Previous exposure to Plasmodium infection was found to be a predictor for the manifestation of malnutrition in under-five children (P = 0.02 [OR = 1.87, CI = 1.115–3.138]). Children from a household with a monthly income of less than USD 15 were 4.5 more likely to be malnourished as compared to the other children (P = 0.001 [OR = 0.422, CI = 0.181–0.978]).ConclusionThis study found that exposure to Plasmodium has a significant impact on the nutritional status of children. In addition, socio-demographic factors, such as family income, may play a role in determining whether children are malnourished or not and may lead to increased morbidity due to malnourishment in children living in malaria-endemic areas. Therefore, malnutrition control interventions should be consolidated with malaria prevention strategies particularly in high malaria transmission areas.
Highlights
Recent studies have presented conflicting findings about whether malaria is associated with an increased or decreased risk of malnutrition
Association between malaria and malnutrition Previous exposure to Plasmodium infection was found to be a predictor for the manifestation of malnutrition in under-five children (P = 0.02 [Odds ratio (OR) = 1.87, confidence interval (CI) = 1.115–3.138]), i.e. children previously exposed to malaria were 1.87 times more likely to be malnourished than children unexposed to malaria
Whether there is an association between malaria and malnutrition is a controversial issue, in that some studies report that children exposed to malaria have a higher risk of becoming malnourished [12,13,14], while others have found that no association exists [15]
Summary
Recent studies have presented conflicting findings about whether malaria is associated with an increased or decreased risk of malnutrition. This study was conducted to assess the relationship between malaria and malnutrition among under five children in an area with a high degree of malaria transmission. Malaria and under nutrition are the two major causes of childhood mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In Africa, malnutrition is highly prevalent: 39, 8 and 28% of under-five children are stunted, wasted or underweight, respectively [3, 4]. According to Ethiopia’s 2011 demographic and health survey, the prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting was very high: 29, 44 and 10%, respectively, for the nation as a whole, and 28.3, 44.1 and 7.6% for the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) [5]. Out of all the febrile diseases that under-five children had nationally in 2011, 19.7% were infected with malaria [7]
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