Food hygiene knowledge, attitudes and practices of care givers with malnourished children in Mwanamugimu nutrition unit of Mulago National Referral Hospital and Kisenyi Health Centre IV.

Abstract

Food hygiene is usually neglected when it comes to control of diarrheal infections and yet malnourished children with diarrhea have been shown to have lower chances of survival than their counterparts without diarrhea. The study was carried out to determine the food hygiene knowledge, attitudes and practices of caregivers with malnourished children in Mwanamugimu Nutrition Unit (MNU) and Kisenyi Health Centre IV (HCIV). A cross-sectional study employing both quantitative and qualitative methods was used. This was a census study and a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to caregivers using both face-face and telephone interviews to collect quantitative data. This data was transferred to Microsoft excel 16 and later imported to STATA 14 where it was analysed using descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression. Four Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with two nutritionists (one from MNU and another from Kisenyi HCIV), a nurse from MNU and a Village Health Team (VHT) member from one hot spot area (Kisenyi slum) were conducted. The interview sessions were recorded and data transcribed and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The response rate was 31.2% and a total of 120 participants (71 from MNU and 49 from Kisenyi HCIV) were obtained. Respondents were aged between 15-80 years and majority were females (94.2%). Caregivers with good food hygiene knowledge, good food hygiene attitudes and good food hygiene practices were 9.2%, 94.2% and 82.5% respectively. At multivariable logistic regression analysis caregivers who took their children to Kisenyi HCIV were about 6 times more likely to have better food hygiene practices compared to their counterparts of MNU [AOR=5.70, 95% CI (1.2-27.03)]. The major themes from the KIIs were sources of knowledge and constraints to good practice. Generally caregivers had poor knowledge but good attitudes and good self-reported practices. Caregivers who sought treatment at Kisenyi HCIV had better self-reported food hygiene practices compared to their counterparts from MNU. Continuous health education has to be carried out to empower caregivers.