Role of Regular ANC Visits and Feeding Practices in Preventing Malnutrition in Children Under Five Years Old

Role of Regular ANC Visits and Feeding Practices in Preventing Malnutrition in Children Under Five Years Old

Introduction: Malnutrition has a significant impact on global disease for the majority of children worldwide, by being responsible for almost half of the deaths of children under the age of five especially in the developing countries including Eritrea. However, there is no clear information on the role of antenatal care and feeding practices in preventing malnutrition. Therefore, assessing the role of antenatal care visit and feeding practices in preventing malnutrition is of vital importance. Objective: To assess the role of regular ANC visit and feeding practices in preventing malnutrition among children aged 0-59 months, who visited Orotta National Pediatric Referral Hospital from 31st August – 30th September, 2016. Methodology: A cross-sectional, Hospital based study was carried out. Data were collected from mothers (caretakers) using semi-structured questionnaire developed for the purpose. Moreover, anthropometric measurement of the subjects was taken. Data was and entered to the computer and analyzed using SPSS version 20 and p-value <0.05 at 95 ci was considered as statistically significant. Results: The main associated factors of stunting were found to be frequency breastfeeding and antenatal care visit underweight with weaning only variables wasting. Conclusion and Recommendation: Malnutrition remains a major health problem among children aged 0-59 months hence interventions regarding regular visits feeding practices are highly suggested given special attention