Prevalence and determinants of malnutrition among under-five children in Lusaka Urban, Zambia

Abstract

Background: Malnutrition is a severe and persisting cause of morbidity and mortality among under-five children in Zambia. We assessed malnutrition and its determinants among under-five children in Lusaka urban, Zambia. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Chawama, Kabwata, Chilenje and Mtendere urban clinics in Lusaka. A simple random sample of 384 under-five children were selected between February and March 2015. A structured interview schedule was used to collect data on demographic characteristics, determinants of malnutrition and anthropometric measurements. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was carried out using IBM® SPSS® Statistics for Windows Version 20.0 to identify determinants of malnutrition while adjusting for confounders. Results: Of the 384 under-five children, 51.8% of them were male and the mean (SD) age was 13.83±10.17 months. The zH/A; zW/H; and zW/A were 68.5% and 31.5%; 95.6% and 4.4%; and 86.2% and 13.8% for normal and stunted; normal and wasted; and normal and underweight respectively. Majority (77.1%) of the children had MUAC > 12.5 cm, 16.9% had 11.5 – 12.5 cm and 6.0% had < 11.5 cm. Mother’s good nutritional practices (OR 0.50, 95% CI: 0.27 – 0.95) and MUAC > 12.5 cm (OR 0.10, 95% CI: 0.01 – 0.94; OR 0.01, 0.00 – 0.10; and OR 0.4, 0.01 – 0.19) were statistically significantly associated with stunting, wasting and underweight respectively. Conclusion: We established varied levels of stunting, wasting and underweight and mother’s nutritional practices and MUAC predicted these levels. More information, education and communication messages to the mothers and caretakers with regard to nutritional practices are needed so that under-nutrition can be improved, to ensure healthy living for mothers, care takers and under-five children.