The Association between Nutritional Knowledge, Socio-Economic Status of Caregivers and Stunting of Children under 5 Years in Kwale County of Kenya: A Baseline Survey

Background: In Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC), including Kenya, undernutrition has been the most significant contributor to child morbidity and mortality. Knowledge and practices of mothers/caregivers have been identified as a key sustainable factor for consideration in determining the nutritional status of children. The study aim was to determine how caregiver knowledge and socio-economic status will impact on nutritional status of children under 5 years. Methods: This study was conducted in Kwale County, Kenya, to assess baseline maternal and child parameters. Seven hundred pairs; children and their primary caregivers were sampled at baseline. Results: A total of 681 households comprised of caregiver and index child pair participated in the survey from the sampled 700. Knowledge scores of food functions, breastfeeding and complementary feeding were combined to assess caregivers’ nutritional knowledge with a maximum score of 24. The median score was 11 (IQR: 9-12) and ranged from 0 to 24. Those with scores of 12 and above (50% plus) were 230 (33.2%). Stunting was 29.8% and the level of under-weight was 16.4%. No significant association was found between nutritional knowledge of the caregivers and nutritional indicators of children under 5 years, but there were significant differences (P= 0.002) in the Knowledge score of caregivers between the five wealth quintiles. Conclusion: Most of the caregivers did not have any nutritional knowledge which was assessed as knowledge of food groups and sources and functions of different foods as well as knowledge in breastfeeding and complementary feeding.