Factors contributing to childhood malnutrition among children under five years. A case of Bunyoro and Tooro regions

Abstract

Good nutrition referring to an adequate, well balanced diet combined with regular physical activity is a cornerstone of good health (World Health Organization, 2019). Appropriate nutrition is an assurance to a healthy and productive society. It prevents nutrition-related conditions, improves physical, mental and overall wellbeing. Adequate nutrition is therefore essential in early childhood so as to guarantee normal growth, neurological and cognitive development, and healthy life (Promotion & Fo, n.d.). However, in many parts of the world this situation is unmet because of poverty, lack of nutrition knowledge, poor child feeding practices, lack of care by caregivers, and infection. This chapter presents the data and methods that were used in the study. It also describes the data source, study design, study population, study area, sample size, study variables, data analysis procedures and data management.

50.9% of the children were males and 49.1% of the children were females. Majority of the children (69.2%) were in the 0-6 birth order followed by 23.8% of the 7-12 birth order and lastly the least (7.0%) in the 13-18 order. Order of birth of the children indicated that 72.6% of the children in the 0-6 order were underweight while 68.2% were not. In the 7-12 order, 25.9% of the children were underweight whereas 23.2% were not. Of the 13-18 order, 1.5% of the children were underweight and 8.7% were not underweight.