Cephas Zulu¹*, Dorcus Mbithe² and Irene Ogada³

¹Department of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics, Kenyatta University, Kenya
²Department of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics, Kenya University, Kenya
³Department of Human Nutrition, St Francis Xavier University Canada

*Corresponding Author: Cephas Zulu, Department of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics, Kenyatta University, Kenya.

Received: November 24, 2022; Published: December 19, 2022

Abstract

Children with good nutrition status live beyond the age of five, their growth is less affected, and they gain in height and weight. The objective of the study was to determine demographic and socioeconomic determinants of nutritional status among children ages 6-59 months from female headed households (FHHs) in Luapula Valley. Cross-sectional analytical study design was used with sample size of 228 children ages 6-59 months. Questionnaires were used to collect data on demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the studied FHHs. Children’s nutritional status was determined through measurements of weight, height/length and Mid Upper Arm Circumference, and also examination for the presence/absence of edema. Measurements were then used to compute nutritional status by use of ENA for SMART software, 2011. Results showed that 45.2% children were Stunted, 20.6% underweight, 6.6% wasted and 1.3% overweight. Wasting was 4.8% by MUAC and 5 children had oedema. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that the predictors of children’s nutritional status were social cash transfer, Age of household head, size of the household and distance to the market. Therefore, it is recommended to foster programs that improve demographic and socio-economic status of female headed households and by implication children’s nutritional status.

Keywords: Luapula Valley; Female Headed Households; Nutritional Status; Children; Socioeconomic

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Citation

Citation: Cephas Zulu.,et al “Demographic-Socioeconomic Determinants of Nutritional Status among Children Ages 6-59 months from Female Headed Households in Luapula Valley, Zambia".Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 7.1 (2023): 83-95.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 Cephas Zulu., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.