Effect of Nurse-Led Intervention on Nutritional Status of Under–Five Children and Their Mothers in Nigeria.

Abstract:

Introduction: Malnutrition is a major health problem among children in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the severity of malnutrition, evidence has shown that the management of malnutrition among the under-5 is still poor in Ibadan Nigeria. Aims and Objectives: The study was, designed to determine the effect of infant nutritional welfare clinic on the management of malnutrition among under-5 children in Ibadan Nigeria. The differences between the pre-intervention and post-intervention of malnourishment in under-5 children were tested. Methods: The quasi-experimental design, factorial matrix, pre and posttest design was adopted. The purposive sampling technique was used to select two local government out of eleven: Ona-Ara and Ibadan Southeast Local Government Areas with the highest and relatively low infant malnutrition rates. Mothers of stunted under-5 children in six communities (three from each of the LGAs) were selected. The LGAs were selected and assigned to Intervention (32) and control (53) groups. The instruments used were Food Frequency Questionnaire, Mother’s Feeding and Practice Knowledge, Shirkers Strip, Adopted UNICEF’s Infant and Young Child Feeding guide and anthropometric indices. The treatment included infant and young child feeding training and food demonstration which lasted 12 weeks. Quantitative data were subjected to percentages, Pearson correlation and chi square at 0.05 level of significance. Results: The under-five children in both the intervention and control groups had a mean age of 15.4 ± 6.2 months. At baseline, 28 (87.5%) of the children in the intervention group and 49 (92.5%) of the children in the control group were mildly malnourished. Following the intervention, 28 (87.5%) of the children in the intervention group were normal weight, while 4 (12.5%) were malnourished. Findings from the pre-intervention outcomes comparing the intervention and control groups' body mass index and anthropometric parameters (nutritional status) show that the coefficient (0.551) and negative Pearson correlation (–0.631) confirm a strong relationship. There was a significant association (47.998, df = 3, p = 0.001) between the children's body mass index and the intervention. However, the post-intervention results indicate no significant association between children's nutritional status and the intervention. The coefficient (.082) and Pearson correlation (-.082) suggest a very weak relationship. Conclusion: The nurse-led intervention provided to mothers of children under five helped improve their children's nutritional status. This programme should be adopted to combat malnutrition in children under five.