Alarm over stunted growth, malnutrition in children

A significant number of children in the country lack proper nutrition leading to stunted growth, being underweight and overall poor development into teenage and adulthood.

At least 29.9 per cent of children aged below five across the country have moderately stunted growth with another 13 per cent underweight because they do not get sufficient nutrients for optimal physical and mental development.

NUTRITION

This is according to data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics which indicates that most of the cases are due to lack of food largely blamed on poverty, a phenomenon that could deprive the country of its intellectual capital in the future if not addressed through the right nutrition.

Stunted growth can adversely affect the development of a child’s brain, translating to the underachievement of personal and national development goals, based on definitions by the World Health Organisation.

The report shows that families in rural areas are the worst hit, with a total of 32.4 per cent of children experiencing stunted growth compared to those in urban areas that recorded 24.5 per cent cases. Its prevalence among girls is lower than that for boys.

Overall, about 13 per cent of children are moderately wasted while 6.7 per cent are moderately underweight.

“Stunting was more pronounced in the 24-35 months age category with 37 per cent of the children being moderately stunted. The survey results indicate that 32.8 per cent of male children are moderately stunted with 12.5 per cent of them are severely stunted,” says the Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey for 2015/16.

UNDERWEIGHT

Studies show that stunted children end up underperforming in school, which affects their earning levels in future.

The assessment of the nutritional status of children was measured using the three indicators of height for age, weight for age and weight for height.

“Wasting impairs the functioning of the immune system and can lead to increased severity and duration of and susceptibility to infectious diseases and an increased risk of death.

Another 6.7 per cent of the children were also found to be underweight (low weight for age), with 2.6 per cent being severely underweight, with the severity more rampant in rural than in urban areas.

For instance, the proportion of underweight children in rural areas was 6.8 per cent with 2.8 per cent being severely underweight.

This is unlike in urban areas, where 6.3 per cent of children were underweight with 2.4 per cent being severely underweight.

Male children were the most affected by this phenomena, recording figures of 7.2 percent against their female counterparts at 3 percent.

On the other hand, 6.1 per cent and 2.3 per cent of female children were moderately and severely underweight, respectively.

“The highest proportion of the moderately underweight children was recorded in the 12-23 months age group,” says the report.