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A long essay or dissertation or thesis involving personal research, written by postgraduates of University of Ghana for a university degree.
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Item Fathers’ Knowledge, Attitudes And Practices Concerning Young Child Feeding And Nutritional Status Of Children 0-24 Months In The La Nkwantanang Municipal District(University Of Ghana, 2023-01) Anang, C.N.F.Introduction: Optimal Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) during the first 1000 days is critical for the growth and development of children. Research in this area focuses on the input mothers make in the feeding of the child. The efforts of fathers, although under reported, are just as important in determining the nutritional status of a child. The main objective of this study was to assess fathers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices in IYCF in the La Nkwantanang Madina Municipal District (LaNMMA) and how this relates to children’s nutritional status. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was employed for this study. Convenience sampling was used select the health facilities and recruit 180 fathers and their children aged 0-24 months. Data were collected on the sociodemographic characteristics of participants, the knowledge, attitudes and practices of fathers (KAP) and the anthropometric measurements of the children. A qualitative aspect was introduced to explore fathers’ roles and barriers of fathers’ involvement. This was conducted by means of a focus group discussion and in-depth interviews.. Results: The mean age of fathers was 34.16 ± 5.63 years. The average age for children was 7.28 ± 5.50 months and females were slightly more than males (51.7% and 48.3% respectively). Fathers of children 0-5 months and 6-24 months had high knowledge (55.1% and 57.1% respectively) but poor practice scores (44.9% and 48.4% respectively). The prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight amongst the children was 18%, 8% and 7% respectively. There was no significant association between the KAP of fathers and the nutritional status of children. From the focus group discussion and in-depth interviews, fathers identified their roles in IYCF as providing support to mothers. Support from fathers was either financial, physical or emotional. Fathers reported that they received information on IYCF from their wives, the grandmothers of their children and the health centers. The fathers indicated that cultural perception of men’s roles, tiredness from work and financial difficulties were barriers to their involvement in infant feeding. Fathers believed being available for their children, education in schools, advertisements, improvement of services at health centers and policy change would help in overcoming their barriers towards IYCF involvement. Conclusion: All fathers had good knowledge and poor practices towards infant feeding. Fathers provided support for their wives and were aware that their involvement in infant feeding was necessary. There is the need to create interventions that specifically address fathers’ barriers towards infant feeding.Item Nutritional Status And Anaemia Prevalence, Malaria And Helminths Infestations Levels Among Children Aged 6-23 Months In Peri-Urban Communities In Accra(University Of Ghana, 2022-01) Datohe, D.D.Background and objective: The first two years of life is very critical. Children especially those under two years are vulnerable to stunting, wasting, and anaemia. However, information on these growth indices in peri-urban areas are scanty. In this study, we examined the nutritional status, anaemia prevalence, malaria and helminthes infestation levels among children aged 6 to 23 months old living in peri-urban areas in the La-Nkwantanang-Madina Metropolitan Assembly (LaNMMA) area. Methodology: The study was cross-sectional. A one-time-point data was collected which involved 268 child/ mother (key caregiver) pairs from five peri-urban communities. A semistructured questionnaire was used to interview mothers with children aged 6 to 23 months old about socio-demographic characteristics, dietary intakes and breastfeeding patterns. The weight, recumbent length and mid-upper arm circumferences (MUAC) of the children were taken using procedures specified by the World Health Organization (WHO). Five millilitres of blood samples were collected to determine haemoglobin (Hb) levels and malaria infection. Stool samples were also collected to determine helminth infestations. The anthropometric indices were converted to z-scores with the help of WHO Anthro software. The data were summarized through descriptive statistics. Crude binary logistic regression was employed to check for associations and the logistic regression model was employed to control and determine factors that predicted anaemia, wasting, stunting and underweight in lined with the objectives of the study. Results: Anaemia prevalence among the study children was 85.1% with 2% being severely anaemic. However, stunting, wasting and underweight prevalence were relatively low; 9.0%, 8.2% and 10.1% respectively. About 1.5% of the study participants were infected with malaria and no helminthic infestation was detected. Colostrum, eating or drinking something else apart from breast milk during the first three days after delivery, start month on complementary feeding, food made from vitamin A-rich dark green leafy vegetables, food made from oil, fat, or butter, red palm oil, palm nut soup/ sauce and number of times a child received solids, semisolids, or soft foods during the day/ night significantly predicted anaemia (p<0.05). Mothers who were part time workers, sex of child, initiation of breastfeeding, breastfeeding duration and households salt used predicted wasting. Conclusion: Very high anaemia prevalence was found in this study. Efforts to prevent increased anaemia prevalence especially in rural and peri-urban settings and to improve the nutritional status of young children are warranted.