Magnitude of undernutrition and its associated factors in children attending Child Welfare Clinics in Techiman Municipal, Ghana
ISSN: 0034-6659
Article publication date: 7 March 2023
Issue publication date: 18 October 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to estimate the magnitude of undernutrition and its associated factors [especially child health interventions at Child Welfare Clinics (CWCs)] among children in Techiman Municipality, Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
A facility-based analytical cross-sectional design involving 403 mothers/caregivers with children. Simple random sampling was used to sample study sites and participants. Child health interventions were assessed by adapting items used in the Ghana Demographics and Health Survey. Weight and length of children were measured and used to calculate anthropometric z-scores based on World Health Organization guidelines. Test for associations was performed using bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression. Statistical significance was considered at p < 0.05.
Findings
The magnitudes of stunting, wasting and underweight were 20.6% [95% confidence interval (CI): 17–25], 11.4% (95% CI: 9–15), and 9.7% (95% CI: 7–13) respectively. Children aged 12–17 months [odds ratio (OR) = 3.1; CI: 1.3–7.5], male children (OR = 5.2; CI: 2.7–10.0) and children attending CWC 19–22 times (OR = 28.8; CI: 6.6–125) had increased odds of stunting. Additionally, belonging to households with one child under 5 (OR = 2.7; CI: 1.4–5.1) and using borehole/well water (OR = 2.7; CI: 1.4–5.3) were associated with increased odds of stunting. Similarly, being a female (OR = 3.5; CI: 1.6–8.0) and using borehole/well water (OR = 2.1; CI: 1.0–4.2) were associated with increased odds of underweight.
Originality/value
The magnitude of malnutrition, specifically stunting and wasting, exceeds the threshold for public health significance. CWC attendance frequency, age and sex of the child, number of children under five years old in households and water source were significantly associated with undernutrition.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are very grateful to the mothers for the time spent in responding to the questionnaire and also to Angela Sakyi and Sampson Kawuo for helping in data collection.
Funding: The authors did not receive funding for this study.
Consent to publication: Not applicable.
Availability of data and material: The data sets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Competing interest: Authors declare they have no conflicting interest.
Authors’ contribution: HG and AB designed the study and HG supervised data collection with AW. MB and AW analyzed the data and MB drafted initial manuscript, which was reviewed by HG and AW. Data were collected by AB. All authors have read and approved of the manuscript.
Citation
Garti, H., Wemakor, A., Badu, A. and Bukari, M. (2023), "Magnitude of undernutrition and its associated factors in children attending Child Welfare Clinics in Techiman Municipal, Ghana", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 53 No. 7, pp. 1096-1109. https://doi.org/10.1108/NFS-07-2022-0226
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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