Food taboos among pregnant women in Hadiya Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract: A cross-sectional study assessing the prevalence of food taboos during pregnancy, types of foods prohibited and the associations of some of the socioeconomic parameters to food taboos, was carried out in Hadiya Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Two hundred ninety five healthy pregnant women who attended an antenatal clinic for routine check-up between February and May 1995, were included in the study. A questionnaire consisting of socioeconomic information, food taboo practice, types of foods avoided and reasons for avoidance was administered by trained nurses. The results indicate that a little over a quarter of them (27%) avoided at least one type of food due to food taboos. Milk and cheese were regarded as taboo foods by nearly half of the women (44.4%) followed by linseed and fatty meat (16% 11.1% respectively). The reasons for avoiding foods include fear of difficult delivery (51%), discoloration of the fetus (20%) and fear of abortion (9.7%). Among the few socioeconomic variables studied, education and income were found to influence food taboos (P<0.05). The findings underscore the importance of education and income in improving maternal nutrition, through changing food habits and increasing purchasing power of the mothers. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 1998;12(1):45-49

The role of irrigation on improvement of nutritional status of young children in central Kenya

A comparative, retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the role of irrigation on improvement of nutritional status of children aged 6 – 59 months in a semi-arid setting. Two equal samples of fifty-nine children (aged 6 – 59 months) hereafter, referred to as the Project and the Non-project groups, respectively were randomly selected from households with and without access to irrigation water in Kieni East Division of Nyeri District, Kenya. The study area is situated in the drier western leeward side of Mt. Kenya and is characteristic by unreliable rainfall of between 500 to 1200 mm per annum. Weight, height and age of index children were determined and the corresponding standard deviations of weight-for-age, weight-for-height and height-for-age calculated and compared to the reference standards developed by the US National Centre for Health Statistics. Energy and nutrient intake was determined using 24-hour dietary recall method. The findings on socio-demographic characteristics showed that the Project and Non-project households were similar in terms of household size, land size, marital status of the respondent, maternal and paternal education and occupation. The calorie intake of over two-fifth (42%) of the children from the Non-project households compared to 39% from the Project households was below the Recommended Daily Allowance. The children from commercial farming Project households had significantly higher weight-for-age Z-score than those from commercial farming Non-project households. Similarly, children from high-income Project households had significantly higher height-for-age Z-score than those from high-income Non-project households. The prevalence of stunting was also significantly lower in the high-income Project households compared to high-income Non-project households. Among the male children, the prevalence of underweight was significantly higher in Non-project households than in Project households. Overall, the prevalence of stunting and underweight which are indicators of long-term nutritional deprivation were higher in Non-project households than Project households. The findings of the study led to the conclusion that irrigation contributes to increased per capita food availability resulting in higher energy intakes and subsequently enables households to safeguard young children against chronic malnutrition. Also, poverty as characterised by low household income remains a main determinant of nutritional status.Keywords: stunting; wasting; underweight; irrigatio

Volume 7 No. 2 2007 THE ROLE OF IRRIGATION ON IMPROVEMENT OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF YOUNG CHILDREN IN CENTRAL KENYA

ABSTRACT A comparative, retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the role of irrigation on improvement of nutritional status of children aged 6 -59 months in a semi-arid setting. Two equal samples of fifty-nine children (aged 6 -59 months) hereafter, referred to as the Project and the Non-project groups, respectively were randomly selected from households with and without access to irrigation water in Kieni East Division of Nyeri District, Kenya. The study area is situated in the drier western leeward side of Mt. Kenya and is characteristic by unreliable rainfall of between 500 to 1200 mm per annum. Weight, height and age of index children were determined and the corresponding standard deviations of weight-for-age, weight-for-height and height-for-age calculated and compared to the reference standards developed by the US National Centre for Health Statistics. Energy and nutrient intake was determined using 24-hour dietary recall method. The findings on socio-demographic characteristics showed that the Project and Non-project households were similar in terms of household size, land size, marital status of the respondent, maternal and paternal education and occupation. The calorie intake of over two-fifth (42%) of the children from the Non-project households compared to 39% from the Project households was below the Recommended Daily Allowance. The children from commercial farming Project households had significantly higher weight-for-age Z-score than those from commercial farming Non-project households. Similarly, children from high-income Project households had significantly higher height-for-age Z-score than those from high-income Non-project households. The prevalence of stunting was also significantly lower in the high-income Project households compared to high-income Non-project households. Among the male children, the prevalence of underweight was significantly higher in Non-project households than in Project households. Overall, the prevalence of stunting and underweight which are indicators of long-term nutritional deprivation were higher in Non-project households than Project households. The findings of the study led to the conclusion that irrigation contributes to increased per capita food availability resulting in higher energy intakes and subsequently enables households to safeguard young children against chronic malnutrition. Also, poverty as characterised by low household income remains a main determinant of nutritional status

Child-feeding practices as predictors of nutritional status of children in a slum area in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract: In a across-sectional study carried out in four purposefully selected slum kebeles of Addis Ababa, the nutritional status of 758 children aged 6 - 36 months was measured and subsequently classified into malnourished and well nourished groups. Child-feeding practices of randomly selected mothers of the two groups of children were compared with the view of identifying practices that contribute to child-nutrition insecurity in the study area. The result indicated that the majority of the mothers (i.e. 99.5% in the malnourished and 98.4% in well nourished groups) had initiated breast-feeding, and no significant difference was found either in the median or mean duration of breast-feeding between the two groups of mothers. After adjustment has been made (through logistic regression) for covariates, the study established that exclusive breast-feeding beyond four months, feeding low quality diet with a frequency of less than four times and giving porridge with feeding bottle as well as low household income are the risk factors contributing to young children’s nutrition-insecurity in the slum section of Addis Ababa. Hence, demonstrative and sustained education focusing on appropriate child-feeding is recommended together with initiation of income generating projects with a view of empowerment of those families whose monthly income is low. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 1999;13(3):229-238

The Role Of Irrigation On Improvement Of Nutritionalstatus Of Young Children In Central Kenya

A comparative, retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the role of irrigation on improvement of nutritional status of children aged 6 - 59 months in a semi-arid setting. Two equal samples of fifty-nine children (aged 6 - 59 months) hereafter, referred to as the Project and the Non-project groups, respectively were randomly selected from households with and without access to irrigation water in Kieni East Division of Nyeri District, Kenya. The study area is situated in the drier western leeward side of Mt. Kenya and is characteristic by unreliable rainfall of between 500 to 1200 mm per annum. Weight, height and age of index children were determined and the corresponding standard deviations of weight-for-age, weight-for-height and height-for-age calculated and compared to the reference standards developed by the US National Centre for Health Statistics. Energy and nutrient intake was determined using 24-hour dietary recall method. The findings on socio-demographic characteristics showed that the Project and Non-project households were similar in terms of household size, land size, marital status of the respondent, maternal and paternal education and occupation. The calorie intake of over two-fifth (42%) of the children from the Non-project households compared to 39% from the Project households was below the Recommended Daily Allowance. The children from commercial farming Project households had significantly higher weight-for-age Z-score than those from commercial farming Non-project households. Similarly, children from high-income Project households had significantly higher height-for-age Z-score than those from high-income Non-project households. The prevalence of stunting was also significantly lower in the high-income Project households compared to high-income Non-project households. Among the male children, the prevalence of underweight was significantly higher in Non-project households than in Project households. Overall, the prevalence of stunting and underweight which are indicators of long-term nutritional deprivation were higher in Non-project households than Project households. The findings of the study led to the conclusion that irrigation contributes to increased per capita food availability resulting in higher energy intakes and subsequently enables households to safeguard young children against chronic malnutrition. Also, poverty as characterised by low household income remains a main determinant of nutritional status