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Prevalence of Risk Factors of Under-Nutrition Among Children 1 to 5 Years in Eastern, Sri Lanka

Received: 30 May 2016     Accepted: 8 June 2016     Published: 18 July 2016
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Abstract

Global studies have shown that under-nutrition, results for at least half of all childhood death worldwide and it has identified as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children under five years of age. According to the UNICEF conceptual framework, there is a multifactorial causality for under-nutrition. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of risk factors of under-nutrition among children aged one to five years in the Batticaloa Medical Officer of Health area in Eastern province of Sri Lanka. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 1-5 year old in the Batticaloa Medical Officer of Health area (n=500) recruited using multistage cluster sampling method. Data were collected from mothers by using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics using SPSS V20. More than 50% of the children had gotten infections during past two weeks prior to the data collection and had an exposure to child abuse. Similarly, more than 50% of the children had parents whose education levels up to primary or less, a father who consumes alcohol and a mother who exposed to intimate partner violence. The majority of mothers (more than 50%) showed a satisfactory level of knowledge on essential nutrients to the child. But, in contrast to that, a similar percentage of the children were fed animal source food, legumes, dark green leaves, yellow color vegetables and yellow color fruits one time per day. Nutrition interventions should be targeted on high prevalent factors and further research is needed to investigate the causes of knowledge and practice gap in relation to child feeding.

Published in Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences (Volume 4, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.jfns.20160404.15
Page(s) 103-107
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Under-Nutrition, Risk Factors, Sri Lanka

References
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  • APA Style

    Thilini Herath, Josepha Joseph. (2016). Prevalence of Risk Factors of Under-Nutrition Among Children 1 to 5 Years in Eastern, Sri Lanka. Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences, 4(4), 103-107. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfns.20160404.15

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    ACS Style

    Thilini Herath; Josepha Joseph. Prevalence of Risk Factors of Under-Nutrition Among Children 1 to 5 Years in Eastern, Sri Lanka. J. Food Nutr. Sci. 2016, 4(4), 103-107. doi: 10.11648/j.jfns.20160404.15

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    AMA Style

    Thilini Herath, Josepha Joseph. Prevalence of Risk Factors of Under-Nutrition Among Children 1 to 5 Years in Eastern, Sri Lanka. J Food Nutr Sci. 2016;4(4):103-107. doi: 10.11648/j.jfns.20160404.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jfns.20160404.15,
      author = {Thilini Herath and Josepha Joseph},
      title = {Prevalence of Risk Factors of Under-Nutrition Among Children 1 to 5 Years in Eastern, Sri Lanka},
      journal = {Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences},
      volume = {4},
      number = {4},
      pages = {103-107},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jfns.20160404.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfns.20160404.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jfns.20160404.15},
      abstract = {Global studies have shown that under-nutrition, results for at least half of all childhood death worldwide and it has identified as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children under five years of age. According to the UNICEF conceptual framework, there is a multifactorial causality for under-nutrition. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of risk factors of under-nutrition among children aged one to five years in the Batticaloa Medical Officer of Health area in Eastern province of Sri Lanka. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 1-5 year old in the Batticaloa Medical Officer of Health area (n=500) recruited using multistage cluster sampling method. Data were collected from mothers by using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics using SPSS V20. More than 50% of the children had gotten infections during past two weeks prior to the data collection and had an exposure to child abuse. Similarly, more than 50% of the children had parents whose education levels up to primary or less, a father who consumes alcohol and a mother who exposed to intimate partner violence. The majority of mothers (more than 50%) showed a satisfactory level of knowledge on essential nutrients to the child. But, in contrast to that, a similar percentage of the children were fed animal source food, legumes, dark green leaves, yellow color vegetables and yellow color fruits one time per day. Nutrition interventions should be targeted on high prevalent factors and further research is needed to investigate the causes of knowledge and practice gap in relation to child feeding.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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    AU  - Thilini Herath
    AU  - Josepha Joseph
    Y1  - 2016/07/18
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    AB  - Global studies have shown that under-nutrition, results for at least half of all childhood death worldwide and it has identified as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children under five years of age. According to the UNICEF conceptual framework, there is a multifactorial causality for under-nutrition. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of risk factors of under-nutrition among children aged one to five years in the Batticaloa Medical Officer of Health area in Eastern province of Sri Lanka. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 1-5 year old in the Batticaloa Medical Officer of Health area (n=500) recruited using multistage cluster sampling method. Data were collected from mothers by using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics using SPSS V20. More than 50% of the children had gotten infections during past two weeks prior to the data collection and had an exposure to child abuse. Similarly, more than 50% of the children had parents whose education levels up to primary or less, a father who consumes alcohol and a mother who exposed to intimate partner violence. The majority of mothers (more than 50%) showed a satisfactory level of knowledge on essential nutrients to the child. But, in contrast to that, a similar percentage of the children were fed animal source food, legumes, dark green leaves, yellow color vegetables and yellow color fruits one time per day. Nutrition interventions should be targeted on high prevalent factors and further research is needed to investigate the causes of knowledge and practice gap in relation to child feeding.
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Author Information
  • Department of Primary Health Care, Faculty of Health-Care Sciences, Eastern University, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka

  • Department of Supplementary Health Sciences, Faculty of Health-Care Sciences, Eastern University, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka

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