ABSTRACT

Three hundred children within the age range 6 — 24 months from four Local Government in Imo State, Nigeria were studied to determine their feeding patterns and nutritional status because there is no information on feeding patterns and nutritional status of children of this age range. Out of twenty-seven infant welfare clinics in these local government areas, four were randomly selected, two from urban and two from rural areas. The three hundred children aged 6 — 24 months were selected through random sampling. Using structured household interview, food frequency, diet history and anthropometric measurement the nutritional status of the children were assessed. Weighed food intake of 20% of the population comprising 15 children from each local government area was used to assess their nutrient intake. The result of the anthropometric measurement showed that 17% of the children were wasted and this was more prevalent in the rural area where 25.3% of the children were severely wasted. Stunting was more in the rural (14.3%) than in the urban (11 .3%). Arm circumference measurement revealed that 59.3% of the children were severely malnourished, 12.3% were moderately malnourished, only 28.3% were well nourished. Chi-square analysis showed significant relationship between nutrient intake and growth. Findings further showed that children who combined breastfeeding with complementary feeding, and children who were not exposed to infection had better anthropornetric values than their counterparts. The level of education and economic status of parents affected the feeding habit of most of the children as many of them were weaned on watery carbohydrate gruels with little or no protein in their diets. Findings also showed that children from the urban areas were fed on varieties of food and had better anthropometric values than their rural counterparts.