Assessment of nutritional status of children in a sub-saharan rural community with reference to anthropometry

In a survey of nutritional assessment in 600 children aged 1 - 60 months in Gwoza, a sub-saharan rural community, it was found that malnutrition based on weight deficits was 52%, which was much higher than the prevalence of stunting. The factors which were responsible for this include diarrhoeal disease, large family size, high illiteracy rate especially among mothers, low immunization coverage; which adversely affected the nutritional status of the children. It is concluded that attempts must be made to encourage education in respect of breast feeding , environmental sanitation, nutritional education and immunization.