குழந்தை மருத்துவம் & சிகிச்சை
திறந்த அணுகல்

சுருக்கம்

Relationship between the Nutritional Status of Under-Five Children and Family Function as Seen in the Under-Five Clinic of Federal Medical Centre Bida, North Central Nigeria

Oladele GO*, Oladele CO, Ahmed G, Gara PN, Dirisu EM, Amao EA, Babalola A

Background: The nutritional status of under-five children is an important marker of child health in a nation. Malnutrition accounts for significant morbidity and mortality among under-fives, globally. Low income countries like Nigeria are the worst hit. A few researches on family function revealed that key components of family function allow a conducive environment for the development of mental and psychological well-being of under-five children. Despite the vastness of literature available on malnutrition, information is scarce on the role family function plays on nutritional status of under-fives. This was the reason for undertaking this study.

Aim/Objective: To determine the nutritional status of under-five children and its relationship with family function with a view to making recommendations to improve their nutritional status. To achieve this aim, this study determined the prevalence of malnutrition, family dysfunction, the pattern of family function and the relationship between family function and nutritional status of under-five children.

Materials and methods: This was a hospital based cross-sectional analytical study, carried out in the under-five clinic of Federal Medical Centre, Bida. Sample size was determined using the formula and found to be 230. Systematic random sampling was used for the selection of subjects. Anthropometric measurements were taken and matched to their corresponding Z-scores using the World Health Organization reference values to determine weight for age, weight for height, height for age, and weight/height Z-scores. Interviewer administered questionnaires were also used to retrieve data from their mothers to determine their family function.

Results: In this study of 230 under-five children, the prevalence of underweight undernutrition was 27.4%; wasting and stunting undernutrition were 27.8% and 23.5% respectively while overweight/obesity overnutrition was 4.8% (specifically overweight was 2.2% and obesity was 2.6%). When considered as cut-offs for public health significance, the prevalence of under nutrition fell under high prevalence while overweight/obesity fell under low prevalence. The prevalence of family dysfunction in this study was 2.18% moderate dysfunction was 43.91% while highly functional was 53.91%. The mean family function score was 7.5 ± 2.1. On the perception of family function by mothers, satisfaction was highest with the resolve component (62%) and lowest with adaptation (48.7%).

The result also showed that high family function was associated with lower rates of underweight (12.6%) and stunting (10.9%) malnutrition but was associated with higher rates of wasting (16.1%) and overweight/obesity (4.4%). Also, moderate family dysfunction was associated with lower rates of wasting (10.9%) and overweight (0.4%) malnutrition as well as higher rates of underweight and stunting. Family dysfunction was only associated with wasting (0.9%). However, these associations were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: Although these associations were not statistically significant, the result suggested the need for primary care physicians to determine family function when caring for malnourished under-five children.