ABSTRACT

This study assessed childhood malnutrition and child eating behavior among preschool children (2-4 years) in semi-urban areas ofUmuahia South Local Government Area, Abia State. The study adopted a cross-sectional design which included pre-school children (2-4 years) in the study area. Purposive sampling procedure was used to recruit 256 households with children 2-4 years ofage which consented to participate in the study. A validated and semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information on background and socioeconomic characteristics ofthe mothers and child eating behavior. Weight and height measurement of the children were done using standard procedure. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage)which was used to analyze the background information and socioeconomic characteristics ofthe parents, descriptive statistics such as cross-tabulation was used to analyze the child eating behavior, while the anthropometric status of the preschool children was compared using WHO-Anthro for child growth standard and then analyzed using cross tabulation and correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between the anthropometric status ofthe preschool children and child eating behavior. The study revealed that; 52.0% ofthe mothers were aged 20-30 years, while 27.0% oftheir counterparts were aged 31-40 years. 58.6% ofthe mothers had tertiary education while 40.6% ofthe fathers had tertiary education. The result on the eating behavior ofthe preschool children revealed that some (38.7%) ofthe children sometimes loved food, less than half(43.8%) never ate more when worried, more than half (52.0%) ofthe children sometimes had a big appetite, 38.7% ofthe children sometimes finishes their meal quickly, about (42.2%) ofthe children sometimes, always asked for a drink, 41.0% of children sometimes refused new foods at first, 28.1% of the children sometimes ate less when angry and about (41.0%) ofthe children sometimes would always ask for food. Also the study found out that among the anthropometric status (weight-forheight, weight-for-age, height-for-age and body mass index-for-age) only body mass index-for-age and weight-for-age status had a relationship with child eating behaviorstatus (food fussiness). There was a positive relationship (P <0.01) between body mass indexfor-age status, weight-for-age status and food fussiness. Considering the findings and conclusion of this study, it was recommended that there is need for early feeding intervention to assist parents understand the normal child eating behavior and promote responsive feeding practices and effective food parenting