Effects Of Diet On Stunting And Wasting Among Children 6- 59 Months Living In Mukuru Slum, Nairobi County

Wagaki, Morris Mbuthia (2026) Effects Of Diet On Stunting And Wasting Among Children 6- 59 Months Living In Mukuru Slum, Nairobi County. OXIPO : INTERDISZCIPLINÁRIS E-FOLYÓIRAT, 8 (1). pp. 9-31. ISSN 2676-8771

Preview

Text OxIPO_2026_1_009_Wagaki.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (3MB) | Preview

Abstract

The age of 6-59 months is a period that numerous children are stunted and wasted due to lownutritional intake. Child undernutrition is one of the underlying causes of child mortality, whichaccounts for about 45% of deaths reported for children under 5 years of age. The purpose of thestudy was to assess the effects of diet on stunting and wasting among children 6-59 months livingin Mukuru Slum, Nairobi County. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with 108mothers as respondents. Cluster sampling method was used to select the villages. A systematicrandom sample of 108 households with 118 children between the ages of 6-59 months old wasstudied. Data collection tools and methods included a structured interviewer administeredquestionnaire which was used to collect data on socio demographic and socioeconomiccharacteristics, dietary assessment, a seven-day food group diversity and food frequency questionnaire and anthropometry. Weight and height were measured for 118 children (100% ofthe sample) and analyzed according to the World Health Organization Weight-for-height Z-scores(WHZ) and Height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) tables (WHO 2006) to classify nutritional status ofchildren. The data were captured on an Excel spreadsheet by the researcher and analyzed fordescriptive statistics on the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v 22.0) 2018. Researchfindings revealed the prevalence of stunting and wasting among children aged 6-59 months inMukuru Slum were (14%) and (6%) respectively. Children aged 12-23 months old had the highestprevalence of stunting (41.2%). Wasting was low at 24-47 months old children (14.3%), howeverit increased steadily up to 59 months. (62.7%) of children were exclusively breast fed while (37.3%)had mixed feeding for the first 6 months. Only (76.3%) of the children were timely initiated tocomplementary food between 6-7 months. Majority of the households (72.2%) had a low foodgroup diversity score and (21.2%) consumed meals less than 3 times per day. Dietary practiceshad an effect on stunting and wasting; higher odds of stunting were observed among childrenwho did not exclusively breast fed for the first 6 months; children who did not meet the minimumdietary diversity as well as those who fed less than 3 times per day were more likely to be stuntedand wasted. The study indicates that (47.2%) of the households interviewed had knowledge ofcomplementary feeding while (33.3%) did not have any knowledge at all. This could be due to thefact that mothers in the slum of Mukuru had little access to nutrition related information. For thesocio-economic and demographic characteristics considered, poor education of the parents,family size and low household income all contributed indirectly to stunting and wasting inchildren. The findings of this study conclude that the diet of infants and young children has aneffect on their nutritional status. The magnitude of stunting and wasting among the children inthis study demonstrates the need for effective and sustainable food and nutrition interventions,such as awareness campaigns aimed at educating the community on the importance of infant andyoung child nutrition, as well as appropriate feeding practices designed to improve dietary intake,dietary diversity, and overall nutritional status.

Actions (login required)

Edit Item