Assessment of knowledge and socioeconomic status of caregivers of children with malnutrition at a district hospital in Ghana
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Date
2023
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African Health Sciences,
Abstract
Background: Malnutrition is a significant public health problem and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children.
Aims: To assess knowledge and socioeconomic status of caregivers of children under 5 years with malnutrition at a district
hospital in Ghana.
Methods: Case Report forms were used to gather data in a cross-sectional study which was carried out among 189 caregivers and their children aged from zero to fifty-nine months at the Out-Patient Department clinic.
Results: Most (80.95%) children had marasmus. Sixty-two point four-two percent had severe wasting, while 35.45% had mild stunting. The rest, 21.69% had moderate stunting; while only 2.12% severe stunting. Almost all caregivers (94.71%) had heard of exclusive breast feeding as a good feeding practice but only 58.20% practiced it. Most caregivers (68.26%) had no education or only up to basic level, p=0.035. The average number of children per family was 4.8 per household (SD: 1.69) with majority of them (64.55%) having 4-6 children per family and 13.23% of them had more than 7 children per family, p=0.009. More than
a third (37.04%) of the caregivers earned less than a hundred Ghana cedis (GhC 100 [US$ 19] per month and 50.26% of them earned between GhC 101 (US$ 19) and GhC 500 (US$ 96) per month.
Conclusion: Lower level of caregivers’ education and large family size were risk factors for developing malnutrition among children.
Description
This is an article published by Ameyaw R, Ameyaw E, Agbenorhevi JK, Hammond CK, Arhin B, Afaa TJ. Assessment of knowledge and socioeconomic
status of caregivers of children with malnutrition at a district hospital in Ghana. Afri Health Sci. 2023;23(1):693-703. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v23i1.74
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Citation
Ameyaw R, Ameyaw E, Agbenorhevi JK, Hammond CK, Arhin B, Afaa TJ. Assessment of knowledge and socioeconomic status of caregivers of children with malnutrition at a district hospital in Ghana. Afri Health Sci. 2023;23(1):693-703. https:// dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v23i1.74