Mothers’ Nutritional Knowledge, Associated Factors and Effect on Nutritional Status of Children under Five in Bushenyi District-Western Uganda
1Tambwe Patrick, 2Bot Yakubu Sunday, 3Glory Nja, 4Charles Idehen, 5Musafiri Simba Lionel, 6Dominique Bigabwa and 7Raha Zihindula Raoul
1,3Department of Public Health, Kampala International University, Uganda
2,4Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Kampala International University, Uganda
5Department of General Surgery, Kampala International University, Uganda
6Department of Internal Medicine, Kampala International University, Uganda
7Department of Public Health, University of Nairobi
ABSTRACT
The cause of undernutrition state in children remains multifactorial and a measure of public health issues especially in developing countries. Even though mothers’ nutritional knowledge is widely acknowledged as a critical factor in shaping a child’s nutritional status and outcomes; this remains inadequately explored in the Bushenyi district. Therefore, this study was aimed at assessing Mothers’ Nutritional Knowledge, associated factors, and effect on the nutritional status of children under five in Bushenyi District-Western Uganda. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 195 mothers and their under-five children chosen from KIU-TH, Ishaka Adventist Hospital, and Bushenyi Health Center IV in Bushenyi district. They were recruited using a convenience sampling method with the help of a pretested questionnaire to obtain the relevant data. Results show that mothers’ nutritional knowledge was predominately moderate (44.1%) and the total prevalence of undernutrition among children was 76(39%). The rates for wasting, underweight, and stunting were 33.3%, 27.2%, and 19.0%, respectively. This was associated with Mothers’ level of education (primary education) and showed a high level of significance (P ≤ 0.05). The odds ratio showed that they were 2 times more likely to have a child with undernutrition. Mothers with an income between 100,000-500,000 UGX were 2 times more likely to have a child with undernutrition as Mothers with low nutritional knowledge were found to be significantly associated with child undernutrition (P ≤ 0.05). With an odds ratio of 13 times more likely to have a child with undernutrition. It’s therefore concluded that the majority of mothers had moderate nutritional knowledge which correlated well with the nutritional status of their children under the age of five in the Bushenyi district.
Keywords: Undernutrition, Mothers’ nutritional knowledge, Bushenyi District, Odds ratio.
CITE AS: Tambwe Patrick, Bot Yakubu Sunday, Glory Nja, Charles Idehen, Musafiri Simba Lionel, Dominique Bigabwa and Raha Zihindula Raoul (2025). Mothers’ Nutritional Knowledge, Associated Factors and Effect on Nutritional Status of Children under Five in Bushenyi District-Western Uganda. NEWPORT INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCES 6(1):56-69 https://doi.org/10.59298/NIJSES/2025/61.566900