TOPIC
district. The general objectives were to assess factors related to malnutrition among children
under 5 years in Rengen health center III. Height/length for weight, weight for age, midupper arm circumference (MUAC) measurements and general physical examination were
used. In 40 children 32 were found to be having malnutrition. Out of 32 children majority
17 (53.1%) were between 2 and 5 years of age followed by 11 (34.4%) who were between 1 and
2 years while 4 were less than 1 year of age. In the treatment outcome, out of the 32 children
enrolled in the study 8 of them were having kwashiorkor with edema and of which 6 (75%)
were found edema to have subsided during follow up time whereas 2 (25%) edema were not
subsided. In addition, 19 children that were marasmic low weight for age, by the time of the
follow up 10 (52.6%) had gained weight whereas only 9 (47.4%) had not gained weight. The
findings are presented in form of bar graphs, pie charts, table and figures. Therefore, from
the findings of the study it was concluded that: malnutrition among children is still high,
particularly among children between 2 and 5 years and higher in males than females. The
recommendation is that screening of malnutrition should be performed to identify the risk
group so that proper intervention can be taken in the management by following WHO
regimen. Success rate of outpatient therapeutic feeding program where “ready to use
therapeutic food” (RUTF) used, should be monitored regularly. A large multicenter study
should be undertaken to determine the burden of malnutrition in the whole district and
speculate its risk factors, which may help to provide proper measures on how malnutrition
can be prevented.
Keywords: Malnutrition, Kotido district, Marasmus, physical examination
Download: FULL TEXT PDF
PUBLISHED
2023-02-2
HOW TO CITE
Teko, Francis (2023).Factors Related to Malnutrition among Children Below Five Years in Rengen
Health Center III, Kotido District. INOSR Experimental Sciences 11(1):112-124.