Malnutrition And Associated Risk Factors Among Children Under Two Years In Mas Hospital Hargeisa,Somaliland

Abstract

Background: Malnutrition rates in children under two continue to be high in south-central Somalia, with rates of over 15% in most areas; in the north of Somalia, where there is more peace, stability, and development, malnutrition rates have been consistently lower, with medium rates of about 10% in Somaliland and 14% in Puntland reported over the past seven years (Sheikh et al., 2020). Methods: A cross sectional study design with quantitative methods of data collection and analysis were used. A sample size of 217 with a response rate of 95% (207/217) respondents who were caretakers to children below 2 years selected by simple random sampling was used. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaire. Results: The results of the study showed that; out of the 207 respondents minority 50 (24%) had malnourished children while majority 157 (76%) had nourished children. Conclusion: In conclusion, malnutrition was associated with age above one year, very LBW, inadequate feeding, history of hospital admission, maternal illiteracy, many child and nonattendance of ANC, having many household members, drinking water from unsafe source and poor hand washing. The study recommends that, children should be well fed on balanced diet, mothers maintain good hygiene and mother’s health educated during pregnancy and after on good child feeding.