Nutritional Status and Associated Factors among School Going Children Aged 4-10 Years in Kisii Central, Kisii County, Kenya

Abstract

Nutritional status is the degree to which the individual’s physiological need for nutrients is being met by the foods that an individual is eating. It is the state of balanced diet in the individual between the nutrient intake and the nutrient expenditure. A well-nourished child is one whose weight and height measurements are compared very well with the standard normal distribution of heights and weights of a healthy child of the same age and sex. The main objective of this study was to determine the nutritional status and associated factors among school going children aged 4-10 years old in Kisii Central Sub-County. This was a cross- sectional study where 315 pupils were involved. Simple random sampling method was used to select the 5 schools randomly strictly with those schools with above 200 pupils from the list of 54 public primary schools. Systematic random sampling method was used to select the pupils by class and gender ratio of 1:1 using probability proportion statistical formula. Semi-structured interviewer questionnaire and anthropometry were used to collect data from selected children. A total of 315 fresh stool samples were collected to examine for ova of Ascaris, hookworm and cysts of E. coli and E. histolystica. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 21.0 and ENA for SMART software was used for anthropometry. The study findings showed that the following factors were significantly associated with nutritional status; guardians’ knowledge about a child’s nutrition 73.35%, size of household (ᵪ2 = 45.8, p = 0.005), amount of income per household (ᵪ2 = 45.82, p = 0.005), and marital status of the guardians (ᵪ2 = 36.89, p = 0.045). Taking a minimum of three meals per a day (28.3%; 95% C.I: 23.3-33.6) contributed to daily energy intake of school children. Few children consumed foods from less than three food groups 0.3%. The prevalence of all parasitic infections was 51.1%. The prevalence of Global Acute Malnutrition 6-10 years was 3.9% where 1.0% was for boys while 6.2% was for girls. The prevalence of Global Acute Malnutrition 4-5 years was 6.5% where was for boys 8.2% while girls. This status was due to the sufficient food supply and food security found in the Sub- County. Socio-economic factors such as marital stability was sligthly contributing to nutritional status of school children. Dietary factors such as balanced diet, and number of meals taken per day by each child was highly contributing to the child’s nutritional status. There were slight associations between parasitic infections and nutritional status of children. The prevalance of stunting 3.9%, wasting 6.5%, and underweight1.9% were below the 15.0% WHO threshold in Kisii Central Sub- Couty but there is still need of monitoring and controlling nutritional status of children.