Nutritional status of children under five years old in the northern region of Ghana

Abstract

The study evaluated the nutritional status of the under five-year-old child in the Northern Region of Ghana and specifically on the dietary patterns and intra-household conditions that affect child nutrition. The data were collected using a cross-sectional descriptive design that was mixed-method based. Multistage random sampling was used to select five high malnutrition-rate districts and a total number of 400 households were included as the sample. Measures of quantitative data were obtained through standardized questionnaires, anthropometric measurement, 24-hour recall and food frequency questionnaires. The information of a qualitative nature was received after two focus group discussions and one-on-one interviews on the district nutrition officers. SPSS (v.22.0) with descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and multiple linear regression was used to analyse quantitative data, and the qualitative data were analysed through content analysis. It was found that grains were the main constituent of young children diet with 79.5 percent inclinations regularly consuming; there was uneven consumption of fruit and vegetables and low consumption among the dairies. Sixty percent of the children took protein foods but not every day (37.3 percent). Anthropometric data showed prevalence of stunting and wasting among 55.5 percent of the children, 18.3 percent were overweight and 0.5 percent were underweight. The frequency of meals was more or less sufficient, but the dietary composition of the diet was poor. Intra-household eating procedures demonstrated that adults did not intervene and that majority of children ate without distraction. The research comes to the conclusion that the dietary diversity should be enhanced, and under-diagnosis and newly emerged over-diagnosis of malnutrition should be called to attention. A suggestion on strategies to be taken by the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service is to engage in community-based nutrition education programmes, incorporate nutrition counselling in maternal and child health services, partner with the local food producers to introduce better access to nutrient-dense foods, and increase the school feeding programme with locally available ingredients.