Child and Maternal Related Factors Associated with Malnutrition Among Under Fives in Bosaso, Puntland Somalia

Abstract

Undernourishment is one of the foremost reasons of disease and mortality among children under the age of five in Sub-Saharan Africa. Significant illnesses and deaths across the world have been associated with malnutrition, accounting for 52.5% of all deaths among young children across the world. Approximately 45% of all mortalities among young children in Somalia are due to undernutrition. In Puntland, 11% of children are wasted and in Bari, where Bosaso is located, 37% of children are underweight. This research aimed at assessing child and maternal related factors associated with malnutrition among children under five in the Bosaso region, Puntland-Somalia. A descriptive cross-sectional study design with the purposive method of non-probability sampling was deployed. The target population included children aged between six to fifty-nine months attending the maternal and child health clinic (MCH) and pediatric outpatient clinic at Bender Qassim Hospital in Puntland, Somalia. Main data was gathered using a questionnaire using drop and pick approach, while the anthropometric assessment was done using a height board and electronic weighing scales. Data was analyzed in SPSS version 25 with descriptive statistics and a chi-square test used to test associations between study variables. A total of 159 children were selected for the study. More than half (54.1%) were females. Most (54.7%) of the caregivers did not attend school. Most (72.3%) of the children reported not having diarrhea while more than half (64.8%) did not contract respiratory a fortnight before the study. More than half (51.6%) of the children of the children had a z-score of above -2SD while 30.2% and 18.2% were moderately and severely wasted respectively. Exclusive breastfeeding is connected with the nutrition status of children. There is a significant connection between nutrition status and exclusive breastfeeding, x2 (1, N=159) = 14.92, p =0.05. The caregiver's monthly income is associated with the nutrition status of the children. There is a significant relationship between nutrition status and monthly income, x2 (1, N=159) = 11.82, p =0.05. The majority (69%, n=29) of severely wasted children had caregivers earning less than 100 US monthly. The study concluded that the child factor associated with malnutrition is exclusive breastfeeding while the maternal aspect connected with malnutrition in children under 5s includes monthly income. Besides, the level of malnutrition is still a community well-being concern. There is a need to generate more cognizance of the importance of exclusive breastfeeding for women of reproductive age. Sustainable sources of livelihood need to be enhanced to boost the average income of a household. Also, there is a need to strengthen active case findings of children with malnutrition so that they can be admitted to nutrition programs for management.