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Water sanitation hygiene determinants of acute malnutrition in children aged 6-59 months in Meiganga health district, Adamawa-Cameroon.
- Authors: ANTSELE ONANENA Blondel, IYA MOHAMMED Bello, WAWOUA Martine, ADDA GOUDOUGOU Marie Aimée.
PAPER DETAILS
- Paper ID:IQRJ24008004
- Volume: 003
- Issue: 008
- August 2024
- ISSN: 2790-4296(Online)
- ISBN: 978-9956-504-74-9(Print)
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Authors: ANTSELE ONANENA Blondel, IYA MOHAMMED Bello, WAWOUA Martine, ADDA GOUDOUGOU Marie Aimée. Paper Title: Water sanitation hygiene determinants of acute malnutrition in children aged 6-59 months in Meiganga health district, Adamawa-Cameroon.
IQ Research Journal of IQ res. j. (2024)3(8): pp 01-20. Vol. 003, Issue 008, 08-2024, pp. 001-020
Received: 07 08, 2024; Accepted: 27 08, 2024; Published: 29 08, 2024
ABSTRACT
Malnutrition in its various forms is a public health problem affecting children under the age of 5. It stems from multiple causes, including Water Sanitation Hygiene (WASH). The aim of this study was to assess the WASH determinants of acute malnutrition, in this case diarrhoea, in children aged 6 to 59 months in the Meiganga health district, Adamawa-Cameroon region. A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out in 329 households with mother/child pairs aged 6-59 months in the Meiganga health district. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect information and data, which were encoded and analyzed jointly with Microsoft Excel_2016 spreadsheet and IBMSPSS_23.0 statistical software. Measures of central tendency were calculated for quantitative data, and measures of frequency for qualitative data. Strengths of association between WASH
components and episodes of diarrhea in children under 5 were measured by Odds Ratio (OR) and confidence interval, with significance level set at 5%. The results showed that 59(17.9%) households had access to piped water for drinking and 75(22.9%) households used unimproved water sources for drinking. Also, 153(46.5%) households did not treat water before consumption and 142(43.2%) households walked a distance of over 500 meters in search of water, for an average time of 30-60 minutes. Open defecation was practiced by 14(4.3%) households, and of those with latrines, 254(77.2%) had no hand-washing facilities. We observed unsanitary conditions in 288(87.5%) households and the presence of excreta in 49(14.9%) households. Over the last two weeks, diarrhoea among children aged 6-59 months was noted in 184(55.8%) households. In addition, the consumption of poor drinking water (p=0.021), a long time to collect water (p=0.000), the distance of households from water points (p=0.022), the absence of hand-washing facilities (p=0.000) and the presence of excreta in the household (p=0.031) all showed a statistically significant association (p<0.05) with the occurrence of diarrhoea episodes in children aged 6-59 months. As a public health measure, households were sensitized and educated on good WASH practices to improve the nutritional status of children in the district. We recommend a revision of the 2013 national protocol for the Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM), incorporating all WASH aspects.
Keywords: malnutrition, diarrhoea, water, sanitation, hygiene.
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