Prevalence and determinants of undernutrition among 6-59 months children in lowland and highland areas in Kilosa district, Tanzania

Masters ThesisUndernutrition is the most dominant form of malnutrition among children in developing countries including Tanzania. Despite several studies on prevalence of undernutrition among children of 6-59 months old in Tanzania there is limited information on the differences in prevalence between the highland and lowland areas. This study aimed to assess nutritional status and its determinants, dietary intake as well as nutrients content in food consumed by children aged 6-59 months in the lowland and highland areas in Kilosa district. A Cross sectional study was conducted among 341 randomly selected mother-child pairs households whereby 200 and 141 mothers were from the lowland and highland areas respectively. Socio-demographic, feeding practice, as well as dietary intake information were collected using a pretested questionnaire. Nutrition status of the children was determined using anthropometric indicators. Weight and height for children were measured using standard procedure while age was calculated from birth date which was obtained from child growth monitoring card. Cooked food samples were sampled from 14 households based on frequently consumed foods. Anthropometric data were analysed by ENA for SMART software. Dietary intake data were analysed using Nutrisurvey 2007. Standard laboratory procedures were used to determine protein, fat, carbohydrate, iron, zinc, vitamin A and fibre contents on the collected cooked food samples. Data were coded and entered in Statistical Package and Service Solution where descriptive, chi-square and binary logistic regression statistical analysis were done. Underweight, stunting, and wasting was 11.5, 41 and 2.5% in the lowland area and 22, 64.5 and 1.4% in the highland area respectively. Prevalence of underweight and stunting was higher in the highland area compared to lowland area (p<0.001). Determinants for underweight were areas of residence, ages of the children and birth weight while determinants for stunting were area of residence, maternal marital status, sex of household head, maternal age, sex of child and child birth weight (p