Factors Influencing Malnutrition among Children Aged 6-59 Months in Kamukunji Sub-county, Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Malnutrition refers to a condition that results from eating a diet with too little nutrients or too much that it causes health problems in children, which can take the form of stunting, wasting, or underweight. Despite the various strategies and policies by government and partners, malnutrition remains a challenge in Kenya as nearly 242,567 children were severely malnourished by July 2022. This study was therefore designed to assess the determinants of malnutrition among children aged 6-59 months in Kamukunji sub-county, Nairobi County. This was purposively selected. A cross-sectional study design was adopted. Multi-Stage Cluster sampling was used to get the sample size. A Semi-Structured interviewer administered questionnaires were used to interview 260 caregivers with children aged 6-59 months where Kamukunji was also purposively selected. The probability proportionate to population size was used to allocate the care givers of children. The data collection utilized anthropometry measurements and questionnaire to establish the socio-demographic economic characteristics, maternal and child characteristics influencing wasting, underweight and stunting. Secondary data including immunization, vitamin A supplementation and previous illnesses were obtained from the mother- child booklet. The collected data was analysed using STATA version 17.0 software. Anthropometry measurements such as height/length, weight and mid upper arm circumference were taken using standard procedures and they were analysed using WHO Anthro software. Wasting prevalence was at 4.8%, underweight prevalence was 12.3% and stunting prevalence was 28.8%. There was an association between income and malnutrition where mothers with medium household income of above Ksh 20,000 had more underweight children compared to low household income mothers who earned below Ksh 10,000 (95% CI: 1.901-9.930). Households with more than 3 children experienced more underweight children compared to less than 3 children (95% CI: 1.830-7.543). Children who weighed between 2.1-3.0 experienced less underweight, wasting and stunting compared to children who weighed between 0.1-1.0(95% CI: 0.075-0.584, 0.010-0.829,0.074-0.553 respectively). In conclusion, child weight, age, the household income and number of children had significant effect on the nutrition status of children. The study recommended capacity building on appropriate feeding programmes as a short-term alternative to address malnutrition. Enhancement of girl child education and development of pro-poor policy interventions to control malnutrion. Household heads to engage in income generating activities to bolster their income and improve the feeding standards of their children. The Ministry of health together with the County government is entrusted with this implementation.