Abstract:
Approximately half of all demises in children below 5 years of age in low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs) are attributed to undernutrition. Despite efforts to curb undernutrition, it’s still a major public health problem in Kenya. The study aimed to determine the prevalence of undernutrition in 3-5-year-old children in public nursery schools in Asembo and to establish factors associated with undernutrition. The study adopted a school-based cross-sectional design. A sample size of 160 children was estimated but only 152 consented to participate. The dependent variables were Wasting, stunting and underweight, while the independent variables were demographic characteristics, socio-economic characteristics, child morbidity and immunization status and WASH practices. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to determine factors associated with undernutrition. Children aged 36-47 months were 56(36.8%) while those aged 48-60 months were 96 (63.2%). The mean age of caregivers was 29.9 years with a range of 20-62 years. Majority of the caregivers 117 (77.0%) had reached primary level in education. The prevalence of undernutrition was 15.1%. The prevalence of wasting, stunting and underweight was 2.6%, 9.2% and 3.3% respectively. Children who had had diarrhoea 2 weeks preceding the interview, had 8.7 more odds of being wasted and 7.4 more odds of being underweight than those who did not have diarrhoea. Children from the richest quintile had 0.7 less odds of being stunted than children from the poorest wealth quintile. The study found that the prevalence of undernutrition in Asembo was relatively low based on the WHO prevalence threshold classification, although the prevalence of wasting in Asembo was notably higher than the prevalence of the whole of Siaya County as reported in KDHS 2014.Diarrhoeal episode as a risk factor for wasting and underweight concurs with several studies conducted in low-to-middle-income countries such as Nigeria, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia. The finding that children from poorer quintiles were more likely to be stunted as compared to those from richer quintile concurs with studies conducted in several LMICs. In conclusion, the prevalence of undernutrition in pre-school children in Asembo was lower than the Kenya national prevalence levels, diarrhoea and belonging to poorer quintiles are factors associated with undernutrition in nursery school children in Asembo. The study recommends that routine anthropometric screening be introduced in nursery schools to identify otherwise healthy children who may be suffering from undernutrition to allow for prompt corrective actions. The study further recommends for regular health education to parents and teachers on ways of preventing diarrhoea which was positively associated with wasting and underweight.
