The Influence of Culture on Child Nutrition Status in Lurambi Sub-County, Kakamega County, Kenya

Abstract

Malnutrition is a significant health problem that has existed for the longest time possible in the various forms that it manifests in. In Kenya, it remains a major problem regardless of ways being availed to tackle this. The research was carried out to determine the relationship between culture and child nutrition in Kakamega County, Kenya with the focus being on Sheywe ward, Lurambi Sub-county. The target population was children under 5 years and their caregivers. The objectives for this study were; to determine the impact of aspects of culture on child nutrition, to establish the negative cultural practices that impact on nutrition and feeding practices of children, to find out the cultural interventions used to avert malnutrition in children and to investigate the mother’s sources of information with regard to infant and young child feeding. The study adopted the analytical cross-sectional study design. Sampling technique used was simple random sampling. A total of 59 households with children of age 0-60 months participated in the study. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to assess if breastfeeding was practiced exclusively, the type of complementary foods given to the infant, maternal nutritional knowledge and sources of nutritional knowledge. The study identified factors such as educational level(p=0.029) impacted on understanding of exclusive breastfeeding. Findings established that complimentary feeding started at an early age among a larger majority of the respondents. This study aimed to inform programmes targeting nutrition education among mothers and caregivers in the rural and urban setting.