ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Many
developing countries,
Namibia included, have a high
prevalence of
malnutrition among
children, especially in rural subsistence
farming areas where inadequate
food supply is common. Poor
diets in
children under 5 years may result in negative
health impacts. This study determined the
association of
food consumption patterns and
nutritional status of
children under 5 years from rural households in Oshana and Oshikoto regions in
Namibia.
METHOD:
Employing a cross-sectional descriptive design, 377
children under 5 years participated in this study using purposive sampling. Validated dietary diversity and
food frequency
questionnaires were used to obtain information on demographic characteristics, commonly consumed
food per week, and
meal frequencies for the recruited
children. Anthropometric measurements were obtained to assess
nutritional status of
children using
Emergency Nutrition Assessment (ENA)
software. Descriptive and inferential
statistics were computed using the IBM® SPSS®
Statistics (Statistical Package for
Social Sciences) version 27.
RESULTS:
Staple
foods, mostly grains, roots and tubers, along with flesh
foods,
legumes and
nuts were commonly consumed.
Vitamin A-rich
fruits and
vegetables were solely consumed in Oshana region (10.7%) and not in Oshikoto. Oshana exhibited a lower dietary diversity score (4±1 SD) compared to Oshikoto (5±1 SD). The
prevalence of adequate
feeding practices varied, with Oshana having 38.8% meeting minimum
milk feeding frequency (MMFF), 55.6% minimum dietary diversity (MDD), 69.8% minimum
meal frequency (MMF), and 27% minimum acceptable
diet (MAD). In Oshikoto, these figures were lower at 2%, 7%, 32%, and 0.5%, respectively.
Stunting,
underweight, wasting, and
overweight were also documented, with slight differences between the two regions. The study did not find
association between
nutritional status and MMFF, MDD and MAD. However, significant
associations were found between specific
food types, amount of
food,
breastfeeding length, MMF and
malnutrition indicators in both regions (p<0.05).
CONCLUSION:
Most study participants consumed locally available staple
foods.
Stunting,
underweight, and wasting were prevalent among
children in the two regions which were significantly associated to the amount of
food consumed, MMF and/ some
food types. Improving
food environments and eliminating access barriers to diversified
diets can mitigate high
prevalence of
malnutrition among rural
children.