Maternal nutritional knowledge and nutritional status of under-five children in selected rural communities in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Maternal nutritional knowledge can play a critical role in the improvement of nutritional status of children

Objective: This study assessed the nutrition knowledge of mothers and nutritional status of underfive children in selected rural communities of Ogun-State, Nigeria.

Methods: Multistage sampling technique was used in selecting the respondents (n=232). A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-economic and demographic characteristics, nutrition knowledge of mothers and anthropometry of the under-five children. Nutritional knowledge was assessed using a 20 - point scale standardized general nutritional knowledge questionnaire, while nutritional status of children was evaluated using WHO growth standard of 2006.

Results: About 20.7% of the mothers had high nutritional knowledge, 35.8% had moderate nutritional knowledge while 43.5% had low nutritional knowledge. Furthermore, 98% of the mothers have knowledge that children less than six month would grow better on breast milk alone yet 83% and 93.5% gave water to quench thirst and herbal tea to aid recovery from illness, respectively indicating a gap between knowledge and practice. Anthropometric assessment indicated that 14.2% of the children had moderate to severe wasting, 33.6% were stunted while 17% of the children were underweight. Among the socio-economic characteristics of parents, education and income had significant (p<0.05) relationship with wasting among the children while parents' occupation, education and income had a significant (p<0.05) relationship with underweight and mid upper arm circumference (MUAC).

Conclusion: There is need to create opportunities for maternal income generation, enhanced occupation and education in order to improve the nutritional status of the children.

Keywords: Under-five children, Nutrition Status, Maternal Nutrition Knowledge