Nutritional Status of Under Five Children Attending State Hospital Okitipupa Ondo State

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VI, Issue X, October 2019 | ISSN 2321–2705

Nutritional Status of Under Five Children Attending State Hospital Okitipupa Ondo State

Akande, Y.O¹, Abata, G. D², Mosimabale, M.M³, Babalola, A.O⁴, Abata, E. O^5*

^{1, 2, 3, 4}Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Federal Polytechnic Ede, Osun State, Nigeria
⁵Department of Chemistry Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria
*Corresponding author

Abstract:-This study was carried out to assess the nutritional status of children under 5 year in Okitipupa. A total number of 340 children were assessed using anthropometric indices. The result revealed the age distribution of the respondent base on gender which 9.8% were within the age range 1¬-10 months, 20.9 % within 11-20 months, 16.3 % within 21-30 month, 14.4 % within 31-40 months, 13.1 % within 41-50 months, 25.5 % within 51-60 months for male also 18.9 %, 17.1 % 9.6 %, 23.5 % and 16.5 % were with the age range of 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, 41-50 and 51-60 months for female moreover that only 36.47 % said their baby were currently on exclusive breastfeeding, furthermore 24.2 %, 14.4 %, 13.0 %, 27.5 %, 9.8 %, and 11.1% were Normal, Stunting, Wasting, Underweight, Overweight and Obese for male respectively while 22.05 %, 16.7 %, 13.82 %, 21.76 %. 10.29 % and 15.29 % were Normal, Stunting, Wasting, Underweight, Overweight, and Obese for female respectively. Conclusively there is high level of malnutrition, especially stunting among the under five children and this could be due to the mother not practicing exclusive breastfeeding, low level of income and unemployment rate among the parent which needs intervention and Federal government of Nigeria, (NGO), while the Nutrition Society, Association of Nigeria Dietitian should encourage mothers to practice exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months.

Keywords: Nutritional status, Anthropometric, Stunting, Exclusive breastfeeding.

I. INTRODUCTION

Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a persons intake of energy and or nutrients [1], Undernutrition remains a significant health burden among children living in low- and middle-income countries [2]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 45% of childhood deaths in 2011 were caused by undernutrition[3]. Apart from causing significant childhood mortality, undernutrition also leads to significant physical and functional deficits among survivors, including impaired cognitive development, fewer years of schooling, lower economic productivity, the lower birth weight of offspring, and potentially increased risk of certain chronic disease in adult life. [4].

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