Abstract:
Undernutrition is attributed to various causes, including characteristics of the
mother. Maternal health and height of the mothers have been identified several
times in the literature as critical factors influencing child growth. However, the
influence of maternal sociodemographic characteristics on undernutrition,
especially among those population residing in rural settings has scantily been
explored. This paper examined the influence of maternal variables on
undernutrition among children under-five years in Pangani District. Data were
collected from 340 mothers/caregivers-child pairs using a structured questionnaire,
child hospital cards, and anthropometric measurements which were taken from
355 children under-five years of age. Emergency Nutrition Assessment (ENA) for
SMART (2011) software was used to generate indices for weight-for-height,
height-for-age and weight-for-age. Thereafter, a composite index of
anthropometric failure (CIAF) was used to measure undernutrition. Binary logistic
regression analysis was used to measure the relationship between a categorical
dependent variable and independent variables. The CIAF results indicated that
undernutrition is still a health problem in Pangani District whereby male children
were more undernourished (22.5%) compared to female children (14.1%). Ten
variables were entered for analysis; of the 10 variables subjected to binary logistic
analysis, four variables (education of the mother or caretaker, sex of the child,
immunization status and marital status) significantly influenced undernutrition.
Education of the mother was the strongest predictor of undernutrition of children
under- five years (β = 2.333, Wald = 30.356, OR = 10.309, p = 0.000). It is
concluded that undernutrition is still a problem in the study area. Education of the
mother was found to be among the important factor influencing child
undernutrition in Pangani district. It is recommended that the government,
through the Ministry of Health, should ensure availability of health services and
facilities close to the communities. Provision of quality education to transfer
knowledge geared at empowering women to take actions regarding their health
and the health of their children is also recommended.
