Peer-reviewed article
Factors associated with nutritional status of children under-five in Pipara rural municipality, Mahottari district
Abishek Jha, Paras Pokhrel, Raj Kumar Sangroula ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This study looked at the nutritional status of 300 children aged 6 to 59 months in Pipara rural municipality, Mahottari district, Nepal. It used a cross-sectional design with interviews and body measurements. About 40% of the children were stunted, 25% were underweight and 12% were wasted. Stunting and wasting were linked with the family's ethnicity and with the parents' education. The authors conclude that child nutrition is still a problem and call for a closer look at policy and implementation gaps.
Key points
- Stunting prevalence was 39.7%.
- Underweight prevalence was 24.7%.
- Wasting prevalence was 12.3%.
- Minimum dietary diversity was 59%.
- Stunting and wasting were significantly associated with ethnicity and parental education.
Limitations
The abstract describes a cross-sectional survey in a single rural municipality, so it cannot show cause and effect or be assumed to apply to other areas. It gives no effect sizes or detailed results for the factors tested, and no data on underweight associations.
Abstract
Background: Poor nutritional status among children under five remains a pressing problem in Nepal and is particularly prevalent in Madhesh Province. Poor educational status and culturally influenced community affect the nutritional intake and poses serious problems in under-five children. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting along with the factors associated with it in Pipara rural municipality, Mahottari district. Methods: An analytical cross sectional study design was employed among children aged 6 to 59 months with the sample size of 300. All seven wards of Pipara Rural Municipality were included in the study, and eligible participants were selected using systematic random sampling within each ward. Face to face interview and anthropometric measurement technique was used by using semi-structured questionnaire, dietary diversity questionnaire, weighing machine and stadiometer. Data was collected using kobo toolbox and analyzed using World Health Organization (WHO) Anthro Survey Analyzer, Microsoft Excel and statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) v23. Results: The prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting was found 39.7%, 24.7%, and 12.3% respectively. Minimum dietary diversity was found 59%. However, stunting and wasting had significant association with ethnicity and parental education. Conclusions: Under-five children nutritional status was still found as the issue needs to be addressed, higher stunting and underweight rate shows about the collective outcome of combination of several socio-demographic, socio-economic and childhood-feeding related determinants. Therefore, it reflects about the essence of having closer scrutiny on the policies or implementation gaps.