Factors influencing nutritional status of infants in Chamwino district, Dodoma

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN HUMAN NUTRITION OF SOKOINE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE. MOROGORO, TANZANIA. 2017

Malnutrition is one of the most serious health problems affecting infants, children and women of reproductive age. The first year of an infant’s life is considered a critical period for child growth and development. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Chamwino district in Dodoma region in Tanzania to assess factors determining the nutritional status of infants. The study explored such issues as socio-demographic, feeding practices and elements of disease pattern that would potentially influence the nutritional status of infants. Random sampling was used to select a sample of 354 mother-child pair from two wards. A structured questionnaire consisting mainly of closed and few open-ended questions was used to collect data from the selected respondents. Anthropometric measurements on the part of infants were taken by using standard procedures and equipment. Quantitative data obtained through structured interview was analyzed by using Statistical Product for Service Solutions, version 20 (SPSS). From it, descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentiles, and cross tabulations were used to summarize the results. A chi-square test was used to test the association among categorical variables and means comparison was done by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Anthropometric data were analyzed by WHO Anthrosoftware (version.3.2.2) and three indices i.e. length-for age, weight-for-length and weight-for-age z-scores were determined to assess the nutritional status of infants. Initiations of breastfeeding, feeding of colostrum and prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding for six months were 82.2, 97.7 and 52.3%, respectively. There was early introduction of complementary feeding, and frequency of feeding per day was suboptimal with half (50.6%) of infants being fed one-to-two times a day. There was a statistically significant difference between weight-for-length and time of commencement (p= 0.048) and frequency (p = 0.043) of complementary feeding per day. Demographic characteristics like education level of the mother, age and birth weight of infants, and expenditure per day were significantly associated (p <0.05) with nutritional status of infants. Of all the infants, 45.8% as reported from this study, suffered from one disease or the other, with majority (44.4 %) suffering from respiratory infection. Elements of disease pattern were statistically associated with nutritional status as measured by weight for-length (p= 0.043) and weight-for-age (p= 0.000). The prevalence of undernutrition was 14.6, 4.5, and 2.3% stunting, underweight and wasting, respectively; and that of overweight was higher (7.6%) than the national average figure (5%). Conclusively, the nutritional status of this age group is sub-optimal and therefore attention is needed to address and improve the aforementioned issues that have potential and significant effect on the nutritional status. The approach to address these issues should be mult-sectoral as they are diverse.