Prevalence and factors associated with undernutrition among under-five children in Gairo district, Morogoro, Tanzania.
| dc.contributor.author | Mohamed T.M | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-06-10T10:23:22Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-06-10T10:23:22Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023 | |
| dc.description | Masters Dissertations | |
| dc.description.abstract | In Tanzania, undernutrition in children under the age of five years is a significant public health concern. Despite efforts made to combat undernutrition still Tanzania has the highest prevalence of undernutrition. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of undernutrition among children under-five years of age in Gairo district, Morogoro region. In three areas of the Gairo district, 300 children under the age of five years and their mothers or guardians participated in a cross-sectional household survey. A semi- structured questionnaire was used and anthropometric measurements were taken using standard procedures and techniques. The number of food groups consumed by children the day before were from 0 to 7, they were added up to create a dietary diversity score. A score of four or more food groups was then utilized as the minimum dietary diversity. The prevalence of undernutrition was assessed using the standard measures of stunting, wasting, and underweight utilizing the low indices of HAZ, WAZ, and WHZ. To determine the rate of undernutrition in the district, children were divided into distinct anthropometric failure categories using a composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF), which was calculated using the low indices of HAZ, WAZ, and WHZ. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals and p-values of 0.05 or less were used to identify factors associated with undernutrition. According to this study, the prevalence of stunting was 54.3% (severe stunting 26.3% and moderate stunting 28%), underweight 23.3% (severe underweight 7% and moderate underweight 16.3%) and wasting 3.7% (severe wasting 1.3% and moderate wasting 2.4%). %). The main factors that showed positive association were; maternal occupation was associated with stunting (p = 0.002) and underweight (p = 0.026). The age of the child was linked with stunting (p = 0.030), the age of the mother during pregnancy was connected with being underweight (p = 0.046), and the area of residence was associated with stunting (p = 0.000) and underweight (p = 0.008). The CIAF showed a prevalence of undernutrition of 57.3%, with children experiencing single failure at a rate of 105 (61%), double failures at a rate of 62 (36%) and triple failures at a rate of 5 (2.9%). Factors that were significantly associated with CIAF were the nearest health facility (p = 0.014; OR: 0.504 (0.291-0.873)), location of delivery (p = 0.000; OR: 0.717 (0.107-0.490)), and water supply (p = 0.001; OR: 0.452 (0.283-0.722)) , type of latrine used (p = 0.000; OR: 21.338 (9.807-46.427)), household solid waste disposal method (p = 0.012; OR: 1.806 (0.682-1.964)) , birth weight (p = 0.000; OR: 5.400 (2.625-11.109)) and marital status (p = 0.00; OR: 0.403 (0.240- 0.676)). Therefore, Governmental and non-governmental nutritional and health interventions that aim at the whole regions throughout districts are required, emphasizing enhancing the living conditions of children by ensuring that, they have equal access to food, water, and health care resources. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/6245 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Sokoine University of Agriculture | |
| dc.subject | undernutrition | |
| dc.subject | under-five children | |
| dc.subject | Gairo district | |
| dc.subject | Morogoro | |
| dc.subject | dietary diversity | |
| dc.title | Prevalence and factors associated with undernutrition among under-five children in Gairo district, Morogoro, Tanzania. | |
| dc.type | Thesis |