Correlates Of Malnutrition among Children Under Five Years in Accra Metropolis: The Case of Ashiedu Keteke Sub Metro

Abstract

Introduction The annual death attributable to malnutrition among under five children is between 3.5 and 5 million. More than 70% of these deaths occur in low and middle income countries. In Ghana, malnutrition and its debilitating effects continues to be very high. However, most studies have concentrated on the epidemiology of malnutrition while neglecting factors influencing its high prevalence. Aim The aim of the sturdy was to determine the correlates of malnutrition among under five children in Ashiedu Keteke sub metro. Methods A quantitative cross-sectional study design was used to obtain information from 400 purposively selected respondents with under five children living in the Ashiedu Keteke sub-metro. A questionnaire was used to obtain information from respondents and the data obtained was analyzed using STATA version 14.0. Binary logistic regression was used to ascertain correlates of malnutrition. Results The study discovered that a fifth (19.7%) of the respondents were underweight and 14.8% were wasting. In terms of malnutrition, about 16.6% of the respondents were malnourished. There was an association between mother’s education (p=0.041), mother’s employment status (p=0.032) and prevalence of malnutrition. There was an association between antenatal attendance (p=0.048), practice of EBF (p=0.049) and prevalence of malnutrition. There was no association between quality of primary health care, immunization and prevalence of malnutrition (p>0.05). Conclusion This study identified mother’s education and employment status as correlates of malnutrition among under five children. Clinical factors such as antenatal attendance and practicing of exclusive breastfeeding were also identified as correlates of malnutrition among under five children in the Ashiedu Keteke sub-metro. Improving the socio-economic status of mothers (education, income, employment), encouraging exclusive breastfeeding and antenatal attendance may reduce stunting, wasting and underweight among under five children in the study area.