TITLE:
Socio-Cultural Perception, Attitude and Behavior That Affects Malnutrition Incidence among Children in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Chukwuebuka Emmanuel Nwoke
KEYWORDS:
Malnutrition, Incidence, Perceptions, Attitude, Culture
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.13 No.6,
June
30,
2022
ABSTRACT: The
incidence of malnutrition in Maiduguri came under global observation in 2015.
It had been on the gradual decline prior to the year 2018 as reported by the United Nations in 2017. There has been an
alarming resurgence of malnutrition cases within the year, 2018. This
study is aimed at explaining the relationship between the resurgence in the
incidence of Malnutrition within Maiduguri and the strong sociocultural
practices among the indigent people within Maiduguri. It was found out that
54.67% of the 150 randomly selected respondents
agreed to have had their Children being placed on RUTF by medical
personnel. It also noted that about 54% of the entire respondents had no idea of the importance of the RUTF being
prescribed for their children. About 39%
of the entire sample population preferred the complementary feeding type
to other feeding types. 56% of the respondents had their deliveries conducted at home while only 38% had theirs in the
hospital. It is relevant to note that wrong health practices like wrong
feeding practices, child marriages and poor health-seeking behaviors are one of
the main drivers of malnutrition in our society. One of the most effective means of reducing the
incidence of malnutrition is by tackling poverty and encouraging education of
children irrespective of their gender or physical challenge.