Learning from the Community to Predict Nutrition Status of Children Aged 6–24 Months in Gulu District, Northern Uganda: A Case Control Study

Abstract

The feeding and caring practices of infants and young children are critical to children’s nutrition status and development milestones. Most nutrition studies have focused on unfavorable factors that contribute to malnutrition rather than favorable factors that promote good nutrition status among children. This study aimed at identifying predictors of normal nutrition status among children aged 6–24 months in Gulu District, Northern Uganda. A matched case-control study was conducted on a sample of 300 (i.e., 100 cases and 200 controls) purposively selected children during October–December 2021. Controls were children that had normal nutrition status, whereas cases with undernourished children had at least one type of undernutrition. Logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of good nutrition status using odds ratios (ORs). The mean age of the cases and controls was 15 months (SD ± 6) and 13 months (SD ± 5), respectively. At multivariable analysis, breastfeeding in the first hour of the child’s life (AOR = 3.31 95% CI. 1.52–7.23), use of family planning (AOR = 2.21 95% CI. 1.25–3.90), number of under-fives in the household (AOR = 0.31 95% CI. 0.13–0.73) and hand washing with soap (AOR = 3.63 95% CI. 1.76–7.49) were significantly independently associated with a child’s good nutrition status. Interventions that can improve children’s nutrition status include breastfeeding in the first hour of child’s life, use of family planning methods, child spacing and hand washing with soap.