Factors Associated with Malnutrition among Children Aged Six Months to Five Years in a Semi-Rural Area of the Western Cape, South Africa

ABSTRACT

Malnutrition is a global concern and it impacts negatively on mortality, morbidity, educability and productivity. Millions of children in South Africa are affected. This study examines the key factors associated with malnutrition among children aged six months to five years in a semi-rural area of the Western Cape, South Africa. A quantitative research approach was employed by using a descriptive and exploratory design. All parents and caregivers who accompanied the children (under the age of five years old), visiting the clinic, were given an opportunity to participate in the study on a voluntary basis. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to parents and caregivers (n=100) for data collection. SPSS statistical software (V24) was used to analyse the data. The results indicated that the factors were grouped and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was determined as greater than 0.7. The results revealed that these factors included obesity (26%), underweight (51%), stunting (14%), severe acute (4%) and moderate acute (5%) malnutrition. The results also revealed that the majority of households were single mothers with low income (51% have a monthly income of between R2 000 and R5 000, and 30% of families who earn a monthly salary of less than R2 000) and a poor educational background. This study concluded that more male children were diagnosed with malnutrition than females. The employment status of the mothers also affects the nutritional status of the child. More children from unemployed mothers and a few children from self-employed mothers had moderate acute malnutrition compared to employed mothers who had no children suffering from malnutrition.

KEYWORDS:

• Children
• age
• malnutrition
• nursing practice
• semi-rural area

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 1 Rand = 0.07868 USD (Source: https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=ZAR&to=USD)

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Reginald Loots

Mr Reginald Loots is currently the Clinical Programme Co-ordinator of the Facility Based Services / School Health in the Department of Health, Western Cape Government. His research fields cover nursing and health care sciences and more in child care practices.

Bingwen Yan

Prof Bingwen Yan is currently the Head of Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Cape Peninsula University of Technology. He supervises a number of postgraduate students and teaches core courses on management and he is skilful and experienced in research design and methodology.

Hilda Vember

Dr Hilda Vember is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Nursing Science, Cape Peninsula University of Technology. She currently teaches graduate courses and supervises Master students. Her research fields cover broadly nursing education and nursing management and practices, as well as HIV/AIDS and sexuality.