ASSESSMENT OF MATERNAL AND UNDER FIVE CHILDREN NUTRITIONAL STATUS IN UYO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, AKWA-IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Maternal and child malnutrition are public health problems; the coexistence of both under-nutrition and over-nutrition in the same population across the life course which has been termed the dual burden of malnutrition poses a great threat to society. While studies on malnutrition especially among children have been carried out extensively in Nigeria, little has been done to look at maternal nutrition and the dual burden of malnutrition. Maternal and child malnutrition has long term inter-generational effects and the problems caused by malnutrition imposes significant costs on the Nigerian economy and the society. Therefore, this study was carried out in Uyo, Akwa-lbom state to assess the nutritional status of mothers and their under-five children. The findings are expected to provide baseline information on the nutritional status of women and their respective children so it can be used as a reference in priority setting and designing effective nutrition programs. A community based cross sectional study was conducted on a pair of 400 mothers and their under-five children. Multistage sampling method was used to select households. Data was collected on socio-demographic characteristics, physical activities and anthropometric measurements including height, weight, waist and hip circumference using interviewer administered questionnaires. Child anthropometric data was processed using ENA for SMART 2011 software to convert anthropometric data into z-scores of the indices; height-for-age, weight-for-height and weight-for-age and exported to SPSS v20.0 for analysis. The body mass index of the mothers was determined according to categories of underweight (<18.5 Kg/m2), normal (18.5 - 24.9 Kg/m2 ), overweight (25-29.9 Kg/m2) and obese (≥ 30 Kg/m2 ). Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis was used to determine prevalence and dual burden of malnutrition respectively while multivariate logistic regression was used to identify independent predictor factors of malnutrition. The p-values of <0.05 were considered significant. Wasting, stunting and underweight were found in 10.5%, 8.5% and 3.0% of the children. Prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity among the mothers were 1.3%, 40.2% and 39.7% respectively. The prevalence of dual burden of malnutrition among obese mothers/underweight children and obese mothers/stunted children was 3.1% and 7.5% respectively. The maternal factors associated with the nutritional status of the children were mother's age, marital status, education and parity. Mothers aged < 25 years arc about 4 times more likely to have an underweight child than mothers who are> 25 years old (OR =3.83, 95%CI =1.18 - 12.46, p-value= 0.026). Mothers who were not married (single, divorced or separated) were 3 times more likely than those married to have children who were wasted (OR=3.27, 95% CI=1.55- 6.90, p-value=0.002). Women who were younger (≥ 25 years) were about 3 times more likely than those who were older (2:25 years) to have a stunted child (OR=2. 70, 95%CI =1.25-5.86, p-value = 0.012). Findings in this study show that overweight and obesity are major public health problems among women in Uyo; so also was the double burden of malnutrition. Public information campaigns on healthy eating and medical service provider counselling on healthy diet should be introduced both in schools and healthcare centres.