Prevalence of malnutrition among children aged 6 to 59 months in the health district of commune VI of Bamako, Mali

Abstract

district (DH) of Commune VI of Bamako in Mali and to assess the risk factors associated with it.
Materials and method: It was a prospective, cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study, which took place from August to October 2012, in the Health District of Commune VI of Bamako. The target was children aged 6 to 59 months. The WHO-type two-stage cluster random sampling used for selection. Results: 359 children were included in the study and their anthropometric data analyzed. Prevalences of 14.2% for acute malnutrition (AD), 20% for underweight and 28.7% for chronic malnutrition (CD) were noted. Children on Exclusive Breastfeeding were 3.84 times less likely to have AD with p=0.00007. Low birth weight (LBW) is a risk factor for the occurrence of AD OR= 8.04, 95% CI [3.72-17.62]; MC OR = 7.78, 95% CI [4.3-14.15] and mixed malnutrition OR = 10.31 CI95 [5.25-20.42]. Conclusion: the study showed that AD affects children under 2 years of age who are not exclusively breastfed. PPN is associated with a high risk of all forms of malnutrition. Hence the urgent need to strengthen the nutritional surveillance system for children, for active screening in the community.