Dietary patterns and nutritional status of pre-school children in Nairobi

Objective: To determine the dietary patterns and nutritional status of pre-school children in Nairobi, Kenya.Design: A cross-sectional study.Setting: Pre-schools in Nairobi, Kenya.Subjects: Three hundred and four pre-school children (149 males and 155 females) aged three to five years were assessed.Results: About 96% of the children had been breastfed 46.7% of them for 12-24 months (46.7%), and the mean breastfeeding duration was 20.17 months. The most commonly consumed foods on a daily basis were fruits, vegetables bread, ugali, porridge and milk. The level of malnutrition was low with underweight at 16% stunting 4.3% and wasting 1.0%. The factors that positively correlated with child nutritional status were the age of the mother and father.Conclusions: The children were consuming a variety of foods both at home and in school, and this together with the high literacy levels the parents/guardians could have contributed towards the good nutritional status. East African Medical Journal Vol 82(10) 2005: 521-52