ABSTRACT

Malnutrition among children remains one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in the world.This study aimed to assess the prevalence ofmalnutrition of children from 2-5 years in Umuagu Ibeku, Umuda Isingwu and Amafor Isingwu in Umuahia North L.G.A. A cross-sectional survey design was conducted on 382 children aged 2-5 years. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the study area of participants. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from parents of participants and anthropometric measurements of the children (2-5years) were taken to collect data. Statistical analysis for social sciences IBM SPSS version 20 and WHO Anthro Body mass index (BMI) were used for data entry and analysis, respectively. Descriptive Analysis was used for the general characteristics ofthe respondents using frequencies and percentages to analyze socio-demographic characteristics, anthropometries. Correlation was used to determine the significance association ofthe independent variables and response variables, which was considered statistically significant using P value of< 0.05 with 95% confidence intervals in the final model. Result. This research found that many of the participants (99.7%) consumed snacks. Many (99%) ofthem consumed snacks common to the area of study. Prevalence of wasting, stunting, underweight, overweight and under nutrition according to WHZ, HAZ, WAZ, BAZ and MUAC were 13.6%, 10.3%, 6.7%, 12.8% and 87.4% respectively among the respondents. Furthermore, significant relationship was seen between Height for Age Z-score (HAZ) and mothers educational level, mothers estimated monthly income, fathers educational level and fathers estimated monthly income of the respondents. As related to the findings from this study, there is a high prevalence of malnutrition among various children respondents, and this can be mitigated or checkmated by carrying out sensitization programmes (creating awareness) and empowering them to be models of healthy weight in the society. Also a comprehensive official policy on malnutrition prevention and management is recommended in Nigeria. Policies and programmes that will promote awareness of the health benefits of eating nutritious diets are needed to help Nigeria achieve the global mandate of reducing malnutrition. It’s also of great importance that periodic data collection on wasting, stunting and under nutrition to update and evaluate the malnutrition situation in Nigeria is recommended.