Browsing by Author "Mawa, Ratib"

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    Malnutrition Among Children Under Five Years in Uganda
    (American Journal of Health Research, 2018) Mawa, Ratib; Lawoko, Stephen
    Malnutrition remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality among children under five years especially in developing countries. The high burden of wasting and stunting among children under five years of age is of great concern to policy makers and public health practitioners in Uganda. Prevention and treatment of malnutrition is a priority in the United Nations 2030 development agenda. This study investigated the risk factors for wasting and stunting among children aged 6-59 months in the general population in Uganda. Secondary data from the 2011 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey was utilised. A sample of 2214 children was studied. Bivariate analysis and multivariate conditional logistic regression was used to determine the association between risk factors and childhood wasting and stunting. 5% and 33.5% of the children were wasted and stunted respectively. Risk factors associated with wasting were lack of maternal education; OR (3.66; 1.22-11.01), maternal underweight -BMI < 18.5 kg/m2; OR (3.39; 1.72 -6.70) and children aged 6-11 months OR (2.20; 1.09 – 4.42). On the other hand, those risk factors associated with stunting included: child`s very small size at birth; OR (2.59; 1.58-4.27), male children; OR (1.5; 1.12 -2.18), children aged 24-35 months (1.17-3.23), maternal height <150cm; OR (7.53; 4.07-13.94) and lack of maternal education; OR (2.47; 1.37-4.44). In conclusion, children’s age and low maternal formal education level predicts wasting. Likewise, children`s male gender, age, size at birth, maternal height and low maternal formal education level also predicts stunting among children under five years of age. This finding suggests that interventions to reduce under-five stunting and wasting in Uganda may benefit from focusing on improvement of maternal nutritional status and formal education.
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    Socio-Economic Differences in Early Initiation of Breastfeeding Among Children in a Ugandan Cross-Sectional Study
    (Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences, 2019) Mawa, Ratib; Kambugu Nabasirye, Caroline; Chota, Margaret; Lawoko, Stephen; Schumacher, Tracy Leigh; Sharma, Krishna Nand
    Early initiation of breastfeeding reduces neonatal and maternal morbidity and mortality, enhances mother-infant dyad bonding and maternal optimal breastfeeding practices. Studies on socio-economic inequalities in early initiation of breastfeeding are sparse in Uganda. This study therefore aimed to examine the association between socio-economic status and early initiation of breastfeeding among 5504 children aged 0-23 months in a country-wide population based cross-sectional study. Early initiation of breastfeeding defined as initiation of breastfeeding within an hour of birth was the outcome of interest. Proxy measures of socio-economic status (maternal occupation and household wealth index) were the exposure variable of interest. Bivariate analysis was conducted to determine the distribution of the prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding by infant-mother dyad characteristics. Multivariate binary logistic regression models adjusted for relevant confounders were fitted to examine the association between socio-economic status and early initiation of breastfeeding. The results showed an overall prevalence early initiation of breastfeeding of 67.8% among Ugandan children. Children whose mothers self-reported their occupation as farmers and skilled manual workers had lower odds of early initiation of breastfeeding compared to those whose mothers were doing professional/technical/managerial work; OR: 0.69 (0.51 - 0.95) and 0.70 (0.49 - 0.99) respectively. On the other hand, children that lived in the poorest and poorer households had lower odds of early initiation of breastfeeding OR: 0.46 (0.32-0.67) and 0.64 (0.43-0.94) respectively. In conclusion, we found individual and household socio-economic inequality in EIB among children less than two years of age. Targeting interventions for promotion of EIB to less affluent mother-child dyads and households might be important in increasing optimal breastfeeding practices.