ABSTRACT
The research work is based on the cause and effect of malnutrition among the children at Kinkinau Kaduna south local government area Kaduna states.The study was design to know the level of awareness of children on causes and effect of malnutrition in which a small size of 100 was selected by non probably sampling techniques.The questionnaires there used for the data collection, mean statistical data analysis tables were used for the data analysis. The finding reveals that cultural, religious factors and ignorance are the major factor that influence the incidence of the condition within the community. Therefore it is conclude that public awareness is needed and health educating for the good feeding practice and exclusive breastfeeding of children.
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Malnutrition is a broad term which refers to both under nutrition and over nutrition. Individuals are malnourished, or suffer from under nutrition if their diet does not provide them adequate calories and protein for maintenance and growth or they can not fully utilize the food they eat due illness, people are also malnourished, or suffer from over nutrition if they consume too many calories.
Malnutrition can also be defined as the insufficient excessive or imbalance consumption of nutrient. Several different nutrition disorder may develop, depending on which nutrient are lacking or consumed in excess.
According to the world health organization (WHO), malnutrition is the gravest single threat to global public health.
The text will focus more on the under nutrition aspect of malnutrition, rather than over nutrition.
Under nutrition occurs when an individual does not consumed enough food. It may exist the child has poor diet that gives them the wrong balance of basic food groups.
Poor diet may lead to a vitamin or minerals deficiency, among other essential substances, sometimes resulting in scurvy a condition where an individual has a vitamin C (ascorbic acid) deficiency. Through scurvy is a very rare diseases, it still occurs in some patient usually elderly people, alcoholics, or those that live on a diet devoid of fresh fruit and vegetables. Similarly infants or children who are on special or poor diet for any number of economic or social reasons they be prone to scurvy, the most basic principles activities of living organisms are nutrition which provide the raw materials for maintenance of life. This aspect living organism is like a mechanical engine or indeed any other action performing system to make the part operates to keep activities going in short to keep or maintain function.
Obese people, who consume more calories than they need, may suffer from the sub nutrition aspect of malnutrition if their diet lacks the nutrient their body needs for good health of people globally who were malnourished stood at 923 million in 2007, an increase of over 80 million since the 1990-92 basis periods.
The world health organization (WHO) says that malnutrition is by far the largest contributor to child mortality globally, current present in half of all cases.Under weight births and inter uternic growth restriction are responsible for about 2.2 million child deaths annually in the world deficiencies in vitamin A or zinc cause 1 million deaths each year.
WHO adds that malnutrition during childhood usually result in worse health and lower educational achievements during adulthood. Malnourished children used to be seen as something which complicated such disease as maste, pneumonia and diarrhea, it often works the way round-malnutrition can cause disease to occur.
Globally, as well as in developed, industrialized countries, the following groups of people are at highest risk of malnutrition (sub nutrition).
Elderly people, especially those who are hospitalized or in long term institutional care.
The children as they are no growing phase need care and sufficient balanced means essential for the promotion and maintenance of their growth and development from birth, sufficient and exclusive breast milk is essential to feed an infant (as it contain all the essential nutrient needed by the body in the promotion of growth and development).
When they reach six month of age supplementary feeding should be introduced (of about 160-200m of balanced meals preferable liquid form three times daily) together with breast milk in order to maintain their growth phase and development.
The supplementary feeding should be continuously increasing the child is advancing in age and weight accurately. For example from 12 month to 2 years, the adequate serving should be given to a child is between 300 – 400mls three times daily together with breastfeeding as often the child infant. This will help in the maintain of the children and grow normal, when the regular schedule feeding recommendation fail to be given accurately to the child they may not gain weight properly his physical and mental development may become poor, his body cannot resist infection and also be predispose to several diseases such as persistence of diarrhea, measles, cholera etc. constant occurrence of these disease and failure of the above recommendation feeding will predispose the child to malnutrition suffering from nutritional disease like kwashiorkor, marasmus and aneamia making a child grow to be related state of ill health and sometimes the child lost his life as a result of sever malnutrition.
Among this, the problem of poor weaning practice, predispose the child malnutrition.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
This has been discovered that not only the children of Kinkinau comprehensive health carter Kaduna south local government area an affected according to our research. This factors of malnutrition, protein calories malnutrition in young children possess the most important and wide spread nutritional problems in the world day. This is more in developing countries in Asia, Africa and latin America with a lower standard of living poor nutrition habit. The two maintain disease resulting from the deficiency are kwashiorkor and nutritional marasmus, because of too much carbohydrate or concentration cause malnutrition with this community need to be educated by the important of balance diet, regular breast feeding good weaning practices. Moreover, there is a tremendous need for government in conjunction with health workers of the actualization of health centre, for nutritional education and counseling.
1.3 PURPOSE / OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The purpose /objectives of the study research is as follows;
1. To identify the possible preventive and control measures of malnutrition
2. To educate the community people of kinkinau area of the important of adequate breast feeding and nutritional diet to the children.
3. To identify the possible factors that predispose children from birth 59 month of age to malnutrition in kinkinau area Kaduna
4. To identify and find a possible remedy associated with its effect
5. To identify the basic group of children involve in malnutrition
6. to educate the community on people of kinkinau area on how to prevent the occurrence of factors that lead to malnutrition.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION /HYPOTHESIS
i. In what way for separation from parent predispose children to malnutrition?
ii. Could poor weaning practice predispose children to malnutrition?
iii. Does the socio-economic status of the parent (e.g poverty poor status may lead to malnutrition?
iv. Could lack of knowledge on adequate nutrition be a factor that expose children to malnutrition.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The significance role of this study is to serve as a guidance for interested researchers, student, individual and community who may want to make use of this research work as a guide to know.
The beneficial role of adequate and regular intake of balance diet, adequate breast feeding of their children or infant so that they will supplementary feeding of the appreciated age of weaning children as well as practicing good weaning techniques thereby making their children grow normally.
Also adequate giving of nutritional diet to the children will be measure to be studied in the prolonging of health of the children and hence help in the prevention and control of malnutrition.
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study on the cases and effect of malnutrition among children from birth to 59 months is delimited to kinkinau Kaduna south local government, Kaduna state.
1.6 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Nutrition:- Is define as the intake of food, considered in relation to the body’s dietary need good nutrition, or an adequate, well balance diet combined with regular physical activity according WHO (world health organization).
Nutrient:- As the content of food or substance that provide nourishment essential for maintenance of life and for growth.
Malnutrition:- Is define as the nutritional disorder which resulted due to inadequate or insufficient intake of all class of food (malnourished) or is and adequate of good balance diet.
Food:- Can be defined as any substance either liquid or solid which when consumed is capable of performing one or more of the following function.
1. Provision of energy
2. Provision of energy material for growth, repaire and maintenance as well as for reproduction.
3. Protect the body against disease and infection
Balance diet:- Is the diet that contains all the necessary food needed for body buildingrepaire energy given and maintenance of tissue.
Dietetic:- Is the study of diet and nutrition in relation to health and disease or is a practical application of a sign of an acts nutrition in the treatment of nutritional disease or condition.
Nutritional disorder:- Any morbid process or functional abnormality of the body due to the consumption of a diet not conforming to physiological requirement or to future of absorption or utilization of the food after ingestion.
Anaemia:- This is nutritional disorder which are due to insufficient haemoglobin, fallen haemoglobin below what is expected due to the deficiency of the following, iron, folic acid, vitamin B etc.
Marasmus:- Is a form of severe malnutrition characterized by energy deficiency and weight loss. A child with marasmus look emaciated.
Kwashiorkor:- Is a form of severe protein energy malnutrition characterized by estema, irritability, anorexia uncertain for matoses and an enlarge liver with path infiltrates or kwashiorkor is a severe form of malnutrition, cause by a deficiency in dietary protein. The extreme lack of protein causes an osmotic, imbalance in the gastro intestinal system causing swelling of the gut diagnosed as an oetema or retention of water.
Marasmi kwashiorkor:- Is a combination of the two that is kwashiorkor and marasmus and it present both sign and symptoms of kwashiorkor and marasmus together.
Beri-beri:- Is a tissue caused by a by of thiamine (vitamin B1) that after many system of the body, including the muscles, heart, nerves and digestive system.
Scurvey:- Is a disease cause by diet that lack vitamins C (ascorbic acid) patient develop anaemia, dibility, edema (smelling) in some part of the body, and sometimes ullaration of the gume and loss of teeth.
Ricketoesteomalacia:- Is a disorder marked by inadequate or defective mineralization of the skeleton resulting in soft or fragile bone. It typically occurs either where there are insufficient amount of vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus in diet more commonly, when the body is unable to properly absorb and metabolized them.
Definition of classes of food
1. Protein:- This is the body building food which contain first class and class protein, example of first class are as follows; fish, egg, milk, crayfish etc second class are as follows beans, soya beans, grand nut, sorghum etc.
2. Carbohydrate:- Are ideal source of energy for the body. This is because can be converted more rapidly into glucose, the form of sugar that transported and use by the body.
3. Vitamins:- Are organic component in food that are needed in very small amount for growth and growth and for maintaining good health the tamins include vitamin A, D, E and K or the part soluble vitamins, and pasolate (folic acid) vitamin B12 etc.
Water:- Is a colourless, transparent, odorless, liquid where form the seas, lakes, rivers and rains is the basis fluid living organism.
THE ASSESSMENT ON THE CAUSES AND EFFECT OF MALNUTRITION AT KINKINAU WARD KADUNA SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KADUNA STATE.
