ABSTRACT

Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excessive or imbalance in energy and nutrients intake. This study is carried out to evaluate malnutrition among children 2-5 years in Ohabiam, Uratta and Obuda communities which are urban area of Aba South Local Government Area, Abia State. Cross-sectional research design was adopted for the study. Multi-stage sampling techniques was used to select 382 respondents from the three (3) communities in the aforementioned study locations. Data was collected from the respondents with the use of a well-structured and validated questionnaire. The anthropometry assessment of the respondents was done by measuring their height, weight and mid-upper arm circumference and it was analyzed with the use of both WHO anthropometric calculator and Statistical Package Service Software (SPSS) version 23.0 and the result was compared to a reference standard to ascertain the respondents’ status. The result of the analysis was presented in frequency and percentage, p-value (P<0.05) was statistically accepted. Findings of the study shows that more than half (59.5%) of the respondents lived in Ohabiam, 36.6% lived in Obuda while few (3.9%) remaining of the respondents lived in Uratta. More than half (50.8%) of the respondents were males while 49.2% were females. More than half (62.4%) of the children that participate in the study were between the ages of 4-5 years, 73.7% of the children were in nursery classes and majority (92.1%) of the children were born with healthy birth weight of 2.5-4.0kg showing that their mothers practice good nutrition before and during pregnancy. However, more than half (79.2%) of the mothers who participated in the study practiced exclusive breastfeeding which could be linked to the awareness and education they received at antenatal and maternity clinics which also reflect in the birth weight of the children. More than half (91.8%) of the respondents immunized their children against infectious diseases. Findings of the study also showed the prevalence of wasting, stunting and underweight to be 1.1%, 33.2% and 3.4% among the children that participated in the study. Higher percentage of stunting among the respondents can be attributed to a long term inadequate food and nutrients intake. Less than quarter (16.8%) of the respondents were undernourished with MUAC assessment. The findings of the study also shows that parent’s age, educational and income status has a significant association (p-value <0.05) with malnutrition, this implies that the level of parental education and income status is a crucial determinant of infant and young children nutritional status and overall health status. This study is therefore recommended to medical professional and health agencies to increase sensitization and awareness showing evidence of adequate nutrition to achieve an optimum health status and healthy society at large.