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A Comparison of Nutritional Status of Children Under the Age of Five Years, in 1999 and 2010 in Matobo District, Zimbabwe. Results From a district survey and the National Nutrition Survey. (LB458)
Author(s) -
Katuli Sozina,
Sun Xuyang,
Husain Zuhair,
CorderoMacIntyre Zaida,
Beeson Lawrence
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.lb458
Subject(s) - wasting , underweight , malnutrition , medicine , christian ministry , environmental health , cluster (spacecraft) , under five , pediatrics , demography , body mass index , overweight , philosophy , programming language , theology , pathology , sociology , computer science , endocrinology
This study compares nutritional status of children under‐five years in two time periods using results of January 1999 district survey and January 2010 National Nutrition survey. Objectives. To explore the changes of nutritional status of children 6‐59 months in 1999 and 2010 and identify underlying reasons for the changes. Methods. 614 children were evaluated in 1999 and 563 were evaluated in 2010. We used 30 x10 cluster in 1999 and 30 x 20 cluster design in 2010. Thirty clusters were selected from all villages in Matobo district and ten household surveyed in 1999 and 20 households were surveyed in 2010. Data were collected using a semi‐structured questionnaire and children were weighed and measured for nutrition assessment using WHO standards for stunting, wasting and underweight. Results: We observed a significant improvement in nutritional status during the two time periods. Severe (< ‐3 z‐scores stunting was reduced from 10% in 1999 to 5.5% in 2010; below cut off stunting decreased by 5.3%. Severe wasting remained unchanged while below cut off (< ‐2 z‐scores) wasting decreased by 2.9%. Severe underweight decreased by 3.6%) underweight below cut off (< ‐2 z‐scores) declined by 4.3%. Conclusion: Acute malnutrition improved over the 10 year period. However, chronic malnutrition slightly increased possibly due to food insecurity. Key words: nutritional status, children under five, cluster survey, WHO standards Grant Funding Source : Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Social Walfare