The influence of caregivers nutrition knowledge and feeding practices on the nutritional status of children 2 to 5 years old in the Makhuduthaga Municipality, South Africa.
type: CreativeWork
description: Malnutrition is a problem facing virtually every country in the world. Inappropriate feeding practices such as bottle feeding, early introduction of weaning foods, lack of variety in the diet are a known major cause of the onset of malnutrition in young children. Lack of nutrition knowledge, particularly about feeding practices, is critical as it affects the nutritional status of children. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of caregivers’ nutrition knowledge and feeding practices on the nutritional status of 2 to 5 years old children in the Makhuduthamaga Municipality, South Africa. A crosssectional study with an analytical component was carried out in the Makhuduthamaga Municipality in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. One hundred and twenty children aged 2 to 5 years and their caregivers were conveniently sampled from four villages. A validated questionnaire was used to gather demographic information, caregivers’ nutritional knowledge and feeding practices. Anthropometric measurements taken were weight, height and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of the children as well as weight and height of the caregivers. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized. Chi-square was used to determine the influence of caregiver’s nutrition knowledge and feeding practices on the nutritional status of children. The significance level was set at p< 0.05. Most caregivers (66.7%) were between the ages of 19 and 35 years. More than half (54.2%) of the children were male. Most of the caregivers (70%) had attended school up to secondary level and only 4.2% had obtained a tertiary qualification. Most of the caregivers (85%) were unemployed. Children were mostly (70.2%) cared for by their biological mothers. Some caregivers reported not to have any source of nutrition education (41.7%), while 43.3% reported that health professionals were their source of nutrition education. Both nutrition knowledge and feeding practices were not satisfactory in the curren…
abstract: Malnutrition is a problem facing virtually every country in the world. Inappropriate feeding practices such as bottle feeding, early introduction of weaning foods, lack of variety in the diet are a known major cause of the onset of malnutrition in young children. Lack of nutrition knowledge, particularly about feeding practices, is critical as it affects the nutritional status of children. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of caregivers’ nutrition knowledge and feeding practices on the nutritional status of 2 to 5 years old children in the Makhuduthamaga Municipality, South Africa. A crosssectional study with an analytical component was carried out in the Makhuduthamaga Municipality in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. One hundred and twenty children aged 2 to 5 years and their caregivers were conveniently sampled from four villages. A validated questionnaire was used to gather demographic information, caregivers’ nutritional knowledge and feeding practices. Anthropometric measurements taken were weight, height and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of the children as well as weight and height of the caregivers. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized. Chi-square was used to determine the influence of caregiver’s nutrition knowledge and feeding practices on the nutritional status of children. The significance level was set at p< 0.05. Most caregivers (66.7%) were between the ages of 19 and 35 years. More than half (54.2%) of the children were male. Most of the caregivers (70%) had attended school up to secondary level and only 4.2% had obtained a tertiary qualification. Most of the caregivers (85%) were unemployed. Children were mostly (70.2%) cared for by their biological mothers. Some caregivers reported not to have any source of nutrition education (41.7%), while 43.3% reported that health professionals were their source of nutrition education. Both nutrition knowledge and feeding practices were not satisfactory in the curren…
author: Motebejana, Tubake Tinny
language: en
keywords: Caregivers, Nutritional knowledge, Feeding practices, Nutritional status
date published: 2018-05-18
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:57:48Z
provider: University of Venda
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Venda

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11602/1101