Assessment of Nutrition Status and Dietary Diversity among Children 6-59 Months in Mathare Valley, Nairobi County, Kenya

摘要: Under nutrition is the underlying cause of more than half all deaths in children aged less five years worldwide. There are 143 million under who underweight developing world. In Kenya, severe acute malnutrition responsible for 82,000 annually with a significant percentage being from urban slums. The purpose this study was to assess nutritional status 6-59 months Mathare valley, low income settlement Nairobi. A cross-sectional design used. Data collected using structured and non questionnaires. total 246 were taken anthropometric measurements determine their caregivers interviewed. Two focus group discussions 6 Key informant interviews conducted. dependent variable below independent variables included socioeconomic attributes, dietary intake, diversity. Descriptive analysis done IBM SPSS software version 19 anthropometry by ENA SMART. Severe measured MUAC observed 6.5% children. stunting, wasting HAZ, WHZ WAZ.was 5.7%, 4.1% 4.5% respectively. Among children, 39.0 had fallen ill within previous two weeks several once same period. major symptoms diarrhea, cough vomiting 50%, 47.9% 40.6% Dietary score 104(42.1%) households low. need regularly monitor have up date data informed decision making.