Nutritional status of tinder — five year children in selected Villages of Mvomero and Kongwa Districts, Tanzania

Journal of continuing education and extension, 2015; 6(1): 882-901,Malnutrition remains a significant public health problem in Tanzania. The study was. carried to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and causes associated with it in Alvomero and Kon,t,iiva Districts, Tanzania. .4 structured questionnaire teas used to determine dietary pattern of the households and anthropometric measurements were taken to assess the nutritional status of the under-live years of age children. Sixty mothers with under -five year's children were recruited. Data for this study were analyzed to obtain frequencies. percentages, means and standard deviation. Chi square lest and Analysis of lariance (.41VOL4) were used to assess the association between a child's nutritional status and the independent variables considered relevant for this study. The findings indicate that most of the mothers were between the age of 25 and 3-1 years with a mean age of 31.6 years.. Alajority of the respondents (66.5%) were married, and the mean Jamily sizell'US 6.2 people per household. The main economic activity in the study area wasfilrIlling. A total of -4 under-Jive year's children were involved, of which 55.4% were males and 44.6% were females. Household dietary pattern was of medium diversity. Protein foods and fruits were rarely consumed. Consequently the nutritional status of children was generally .suboptimal. The overall prevalence of stunting Was' higher in Kongwa District 67.3%1Or children aged 12 to 23 months compared to 33.3% in Afvomero. Factors which were .significantly associated with nutritional status' of the children include location where the child lives., the child's age as well as. the mother's educational level, introduction of complementary foods, type of conwlementary food, feeding frequency and the sex of the household head. It is' therefOre recommended that female education, nutritional education and gender .training he adopted because they will improve the nutritional status of children