TITLE:
Prevalence of Undernutrition among Children Aged 6 - 59 Months in the Municipality of Toucountouna (Benin) in 2017
AUTHORS:
Alphonse Noudamadjo, Falilatou Agbeille Mohamed, Mèdétinmè Gérard Kpanidja, Myriam Anita Dogo, Gado Tchando, Julien Didier Adédémy, Joseph Agossou
KEYWORDS:
Prevalence, Undernutrition, Children, Benin
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.13 No.5,
September
5,
2023
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Undernutrition is a public health problem in the world and especially in developing
countries. According to the demographic and health survey with multiple
indicators of Benin IV (DHS-MICS-IV), the prevalence of acute undernutrition
(AU), chronic undernutrition (CU) and that of underweight (UW) was 16%, 45% and
21%, respectively. The objective of this work was to determine the prevalence
of undernutrition in children aged 6 to 59 months in the municipality of
Toucountouna in 2017. Materials and Methods: This was a
descriptive cross-sectional study with two-stage cluster random sampling,
composed of 390 children aged 6 to 59 months, living in the municipality of
Toucountouna for at least six months. The study variables were:
socio-demographic, economic, behavioral, socio-sanitary and anthropometric.
Data were entered and analyzed using Epi-info 7.2 software. Results: 203
out of 390 children included, were boys (sex ratio of 1.08). The mean age of
the children was 28.70 ± 11.79 months. The prevalence of AU, CU and UW was
10.26%, 31.54% and 11.79%, respectively. Conclusion: The results of this
study showed that efforts remain to be made in terms of undernutrition and
other surveys could identify the determinants linked to this situation in the
locality for the effective implementation of prevention.