Abstract:
Background: A major proportion of under-nutrition among sick children is
associated with ignorance, family size, maternal and paternal education,
poverty. The study aimed at investigating the prevalence of under-nutrition
among sick children attending Eldoret Municipality Health facilities. Study
design: Cross sectional survey. Study setting: Eldoret Municipality Health
Facilities. Methods Questionnaires were used to collect data on maternal
knowledge, anthropometric measurements were analyzed using the WHO
Anthro calculator. Z-scores were used to determine prevalence of under
nutrition. Summary statistics were generated using SPSS V.12. Results: Mean
age (months) was 9.96(sd.4.7). More than half -53.6% children were stunted,
36.5% wasted while 22.8% underweight. 59.1% mothers chose vitamins as
food group that is needed to boost the child’s immune system, 85.5% said the
sick child loses nutrients. 268(70%) needed to know more on how nutrition of
the sick child should be handled. Conclusion: Most of the stunted children
were severely stunted. Although most mothers knew that the nutritional
needs of the sick child are different and that they need vitamins to boost the
immune system, they did not have a comprehensive knowledge on how to
handle underweight, stunting and wasting. Most nutritional problems went
unnoticed by the medical staff.
