ASSESSMENT OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS IN UNDER FIVE CHILDREN ATTENDING CHILD WELFARE CLINIC, IN ABEOKUTA SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA.
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Abstract
This study was conducted in Abeokuta South Local Government of Ogun State to assess the nutritional status of under- five children. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information from caregivers (parent or guardian) of 150 randomly selected children of six to fifty-nine months attending child welfare clinics. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16 and “Epi Info ” (version 6.0) software. The nutritional status of the children was assessed using a weight-for-age z-score based on the World Health Organization 2007 cutoff points, in which any child with a z-score of <-2 is considered to be malnourished. This study reveals that stunting was the most prevalent under nutrition problem among the children with 98.5%, 98.8% of male and female, respectively found to be stunted. More than one-third (38.2%) of male respondents were found to be severely underweight (low weight for age) while only 28.87c of the female were underweight. There was no significant difference in the prevalence rate for underweight and stunting between males and females (p=0.315. p=0.915) respectively. However, the percentage of underweight children was slightly higher among males (38.57c) compared to females (28.87o). There was a significant relationship established between mother's occupation and underweight, with p=0.060 but no significant association was shown between underweight and mother education (p=0.768). The study shows that childhood malnutrition is still a public-health concern in Abeokuta South Local Government Area. Keywords: Pre school, Nutritional status, underweight, stunting.