Complementary feeding practices and the anthropometric status of children aged six to 23 months among the pastoralist communities of Isiolo county, Kenya

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY : Introduction: Adequate nutrition is vital to a child's development, with the period from pregnancy to two years of age being the most critical basis for future optimal growth, health and development. Current global public health recommendations on infant and young child feeding (IYCF) state that an infant should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life. Thereafter complementary foods should be introduced to the child's diet while they continue breastfeeding up to two years of age and beyond. Timing, type and quality are important considerations in complementary feeding, and if compromised, often result in malnutrition and mortality.Aim: The aim of the current study was to determine complementary feeding practices and the anthropometric status of children aged six to 23 months among pastoralist communities of Isiolo County, Kenya.Methods: Cross-sectional analytical study. Two-stage cluster sampling methodology was used to select a sample of 288 mother/caregiver-child pairs from pastoralist communities. The children were aged from six to 23 months. The mothers/caregivers were interviewed through a researcher-administered questionnaire. Weight and length measurements of the children were taken to establish their anthropometric status. Ethical approval to conduct the study was obtained from Stellenbosch University (South Africa) and Kenyatta University (Kenya). Permission to conduct the study was obtained from the Kenyan National Council of Science and Technology and the Isiolo County Commissioner.Results: Overall, the prevalence of stunting and underweight among the children six to 23 months old was low according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification for severity of malnutrition (19.1% and 7.3%, respectively) while the severity of wasting prevalence (5.2%) which, according to WHO thresholds, was medium. Of the children studied, 2.4% were overweight which was low. The percentage of children with stunting, wasting and underweight rates increased with an increase in age (measured in months). Complementary feeding practices were poor. Of the children participating in the study, 60.4% achieved minimum meal frequency, with 35.4% achieving minimum dietary diversity and 25.3% achieving the minimum acceptable diet. Significant relationships were found between socio-demographic factors (child gender, child age, caregiver's age and caregiver's education level), and complementary feeding practices (ρ < 0.05). In addition to this, there was a significant association found between child gender and anthropometric status, whereby female children were more likely to have better anthropometric status than their male counterparts (ρ < 0.05).Conclusion and recommendations: The study established that among pastoralist communities, poor feeding practices starts early, thereby predisposing older children (18 – 23 months) to nutritional inadequacies. Interventions need to put more emphasis on nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive strategies focussing on the critical period from gestation to two years. Improving education levels for women in pastoralist communities may have a positive impact on the anthropometric status of the child. Qualitative studies are necessary in order to identify specific sociocultural issues that might affect complementary feeding practices and anthropometric status such as gender bias in feeding practices.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University