Nutritional status of children (6-59 months) among HIV-positive mothers/caregivers living in an urban setting of Uganda.

Abstract

Few studies have attempted to establish the burden of childhood malnutrition and the associated factors among households of HIV-positive mothers/caregivers particularly in urban settings. There is also no satisfactory evidence of health and nutritional benefits of food aid in this particular group where options to attain a balanced diet are generally minimal. A cross-sectional survey was therefore organized to assess the prevalence of malnutrition and establish the contributory factors that would be vital in design of interventions. The target group was children under five years of age (6-59 months) of HIV-positive mothers/caregivers residing in an urban setting of Uganda. Interviews were conducted with a random sample of 144 households of HIV-positive mothers/caregivers of children under the age of five years in Jinja municipality in Eastern Uganda. Nutritional status was determined on every randomly selected index child from sampled households. Epi-Info 2002 was used for calculation of z-scores and Nutrisurvey for SMART (2005) for drawing anthropometric charts. SPSS version 12 was then used for descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate analyses. For all the statistical tests, P≤0.05 was considered significant. The proportion of stunted children (23%) among study households was nearly 12 times higher, underweight (11%) more than five times higher and wasting (3.5%) about two times higher than the level expected in a healthy, well-nourished population. Malnutrition among children under five years of age in households of mothers/caregivers living with HIV/AIDS in Ugandan urban settings is therefore of public health concern. The identified causative factors include high malaria and fever episodes, high dependency ratio, low food access, low Socio-Economic Status (SES) and low education level of mother/caregiver. Interventions to address malnutrition in this vulnerable group should therefore aim at addressing the identified contributory factors. Use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) and campaigns to ensure their proper use, income generating activities, and kitchen gardening are some of the targeted interventions that could contribute to alleviation of the problem. Food aid to supplement the diet contributes to daily energy requirements.

Factors associated with nutritional status of infants and young children in Somali Region, Ethiopia: a cross- sectional study

“…Complementary feeding initiation at recommended age (6 months) and better dietary diversity scores (≥4) were also associated with reduced odds of stunting. A study from Uganda showed that low dietary diversity was a predictor of stunting [29]. A study done in Sidama zone reported that dietary inadequacy and low diet quality in terms of diversified diet and availability of micronutrients had a significant negative association with child growth [30].…”

“…A study done in Zambia showed no significant association between maternal education status and stunting and underweight whereas wasting prevalence did have a significant association with maternal education in which wasting prevalence were minimal in households with educated mothers [31]. On the other hand, a study done in Nigeria and Uganda showed that there was a positive association between levels of maternal education and nutritional indices [29, 32]. A study from Jimma in Ethiopia reported no statistically significant association between child nutritional status and education status [33].…”

Complementary feeding practices and associated factors among HIV positive mothers in Southern Ethiopia

“…A study in Bangladesh indicated that children of mothers with low BMI, mothers having less antenatal check-ups and rural mothers had significantly lower minimum dietary diversity rate, which are not a statistically significant factors in our findings [ 28 ]. A study from Uganda showed that consumption of a diversified diet was significantly associated with socio-economic status [ 31 ]. Similarly, a study in Indonesia also showed that mother’s education, rural residence and lower category of infants' age were negatively associated with minimum dietary diversity and minimum meal frequency [ 32 ].…”

“…In this study, majority (67.6%) of HIV exposed children have complemented with grains in the last 24 hours preceding the survey which is consistent with the current EDHS report [ 30 ]. A study conducted in Uganda reported that 88% of households with HIV positive mothers reportedly consumed mainly cereals in the 24 hours prior to the assessment [ 31 ]. A study from Bangladesh reported that about 85% of children aged 6–23 months were given grains [ 28 ].…”

The influence of feeding practice on the risk of stunting in infant and young children in developing countries:a literature review

“…Sebuah studi di Uganda menyebutkan anak yang mendapatkan keragaman makanan yang rendah menjadi salah satu faktor penyebab stunting. Di sisi lain, beberapa alasan yang menyebabkan tidak tercapainya keragaman makanan yang optimal adalah faktor status sosial ekonomi keluarga dan akses memeroleh makanan (28). Skor keragaman makanan menjadi faktor yang memiliki hubungan signifikan dengan nilai Z˗score PB/U yang rendah pada anak di Ethiopia (29).…”