The effect of a nutrition-specific intervention on nutritional status in moderate acute malnourished children under five years of age in a rural area of Mozambique

Identifier:  TDX:2574

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX2574

Authors:  Vilella Nebot, Maria Eugènia

Abstract:
Child malnutrition is still a public health challenge. Malnutrition contributes to more than one-third of all deaths of children under five, especially in Africa. According to World Health Organization in 2015 approximately 156 million children were stunted, 49.8 million were wasted and 95.5 million were underweight. In Mozambique (2011), was counted that 43.1% of the children was stunted, 6.1% wasted and 15.6% underweight. According to United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), in 2015, a total of 50 million children were living with acute malnutrition, from those 34 had moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). It exists many programmes to address MAM but there is no consensus in which are the best strategies to prevent and treat the MAM children. The aim was to evaluate the effect of a local-based supplementary intervention combined with a maternal intensive educational programme on the nutritional status in moderate acute malnourished children in a rural area of Mozambique. From April 2009 to July 2010 a cross-sectional study was conducted. A structured questionnaire was administrated to the head of the family. In March 2010, the Centro de Apoio Nutritional do Ibo (CANI) was created with a nutrition-specific intervention to improve nutritional status in MAM children. In July 2011, the evaluation of the nutrition-specific intervention was done in Ibo. 3313 people on Ibo were identified and interviewed. The prevalences of wasting, stunting and underweight were 13.4%, 49.8% and 22.7% respectively. The intervention was 60.2% effective. The mean (SD) gain was 2.3 (1.7) g/kg/day for weight and 0.69 (0.50) mm/day for mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC). The overall types of malnutrition decrease in 2011 comparing to 2009, especially for stunting. The duration of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding and bottle-feeding increased significantly from 2009 to 2011. The frequency of children having ≥3 meals/day increased significantly in 2011. Furthermore, a significant increase was noticed in owning a home gardening and diet diversification. A specific-nutrition intervention with an intensive nutritional educational programme with a local supplement is a feasible intervention for MAM children in a rural area of Mozambique.