The Prevalence of Malnutrition among Children Aged 6-10 Years in Umuahia South, Abia State, Nigeria

The challenges of hunger and inadequate intake of food which hampers the nutritional status of children remains an issue of concern in Nigeria. This study assessed the prevalence of malnutrition among children aged 6-10 years in Umuahia South, Abia State. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the respondents for the study. Two hundred and twenty three (223) children 6-10 years were randomly selected from three community schools in Umuahia South. Structured and validated questionnaires were used in data collection. Data collection included basic characteristics of children, socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the parents. Food habits of the participants, anthropometric characteristics of the children. Data obtained from the study were analyzed using Statistical Package for Service Solution (SPSS) for Windows Version 20. Descriptive statistics, frequency, percentages, Pearson’s correlation, cross tabulation and chi-square were used to examine the relationship between the variables, significance was accepted at p<0.05. Almost all the children (99.6%) were immunized. About half of the households (57.8%) had a size of 4-6 persons. More than one third of the mothers’ had secondary (46.2%) and tertiary (30.9%) education. Most of the households used tap (70.4%) and borehole water (16.1%) as their major source of water. The households used gas (37.7%) and firewood (22.4%) mainly as cooking fuel. Based on the anthropometric status of the children, about 29.6% of the children were stunted, 5.8% were underweight and 2.6% were thin. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) between the mother’s education, source of water supply, mother’s occupation and underweight in the children. In addition, there was a significant relationship (p<0.05) between mothers’ occupation, source of energy, type of toilet, good health facility and stunting in the children. There was a significant relationship (p<0.05) between mother’s education, source of water supply, source of energy, good health facility, type of housing and BMI-for-age in the children. Socio economic characteristics of the mothers was an important factor in the health and nutritional status of children. There is need for school feeding programs and nutrition education to improve on children’s health and feeding habit.