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A descriptive study on Malnutrition

Article · January 2015

DOI: 10.5958/2349-2996.2015.00016.6

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 Asian J. Nursing Edu. and Research 5(1): Jan.-March 2015

www.anvpublication.org ISSN-2231-1149

RESEARCH ARTICLE

A descriptive study on Malnutrition

Mr. Vinod V. Bagilkar1, Mr. Bharatesh B. Savadatti2
1
Asst. Professor, P.D. Bharatesh College of Nursing, Halaga, Belgaum, Karnataka.
2
Clinical Instructor, P.D. Bharatesh College of Nursing, Halaga, Belgaum, Karnataka.
Corresponding Author Email: vinod85bgm@gmail.com
ABSTRACT:
Malnutrition has become an urgent global health issue, with under nutrition killing or disabling millions of children
each year. Malnutrition also prevents millions more from reaching their full intellectual and productive potential. In
children, severe malnutrition accounts for approximately 1 million deaths annually1, with approximately 20 million
children under the age of five suffering from severe malnutrition. In India about 2/3 portion of the under five children
of our country is malnourished among them 5-8% is severely malnourished whole rest fall in the group of mild or
moderate malnutrition so it can be said that malnutrition one of the most wide spread conditions affecting child health.
Objectives: To assess the knowledge and attitude regarding malnutrition among parents of under five children.
Method: The convenient sampling technique and interview schedule was used in the study.
Result: About 56% of mothers were given the Information on malnutrition. 58% of parents were in the age group of
23-27 years. 100% of parents were from rural area. 70% of parents were belongs to Jain religion. 70% of parents were
studied Primary. 72% of parents were belongs to Nuclear family. 92% of mothers were Unemployed Mothers. 40% of
fathers were private employed Fathers. 54% of parents monthly income is Rs. 3000 and below. 76% of parent’s dietary
pattern is Vegetarians. 66% of parents had only one child. 46% of parents were got information from others and Health
Care Workers.
This finding shows that 29(58%) of parents were having moderately adequate knowledge. The mean value of
knowledge on malnutrition was 8.64 with a standard deviation of 2.57 and attitude 43(86%) of parents were having
moderately positive attitude. The mean value of attitude on malnutrition was 32.84 with a standard deviation of 3.38.
Result show that there is a strong positive correlation between knowledge and attitude regarding malnutrition among
parents of under five children (r= 0.097.) this implies if there is increase in knowledge the attitude also increase.
There is no significant association between knowledge and demographic variables such as Informer age, education,
occupation, economic status, type of family, religion, area of residence, food pattern, and source of information of the
parental knowledge on Malnutrition.
There is no significant association between attitude and demographic variables such as Informer age, education,
occupation, economic status, type of family, religion, area of residence, food pattern, and source of information of the
parental attitude on Malnutrition. There was a significant increase in the knowledge of parents after giving health
education on malnutrition.

KEYWORDS: Malnutrition, under five children and parents.

INTRODUCTION:
Every child develops and grows at her/his own pace and in Children’s growth and development do not occur in a linear
her/his own time through reaching the various fashion, but are influenced by each child’s environment,
developmental milestones. nutrition and parental care. These factors play a critical role
in a child reaching her/his full potential. Recent evidence
indicates that good nutrition, particularly in early childhood,
Received on 09.09.2014 Modified on 25.09.2013 is critical to the positive health outcomes of children. In
Accepted on 08.10.2014 © A&V Publication all right reserved fact, children’s nutritional status can be viewed as a good
Asian J. Nur. Edu. and Research 5(1): Jan.-March 2015; Page 72-77 proxy indicator of a community’s state of health.1

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 Asian J. Nursing Edu. and Research 5(1): Jan.-March 2015

The nutritional status of a child is usually described in OPERATIONAL DEFINITION:

terms of anthropometry, i.e. body measurement, such as 1) Malnutrition: In this study it refers to the lesser intake
weight, in relation to age or height, which is reflective of of food for children in terms of quality and quantity to
the degree of underweight or wasting of that child. Food is maintain optimum health.
the prime necessity of life; life cannot be sustained without 2) Mother of Under Five Children: In this study it refers
an adequate nourishment child needs adequate food for to those who have child of age group (1-5years).
growth and development. 2 3) Knowledge: In this study it refers to information
awareness and correct response of mothers towards
According to the WHO, breast milk has the complete malnutrition.
nutritional requirements that a baby needs for healthy 4) Attitude: In this study it refers to opinion feelings or
growth and development in the first six months of life. thought exhibited by the mothers under five children.
According to the United Nations Child Emergency Fund
(UNICEF), children who are breastfed in the first six Assumptions:
months of life have a six times greater chance of survival as The researcher assumes that,
opposed to non-breastfed children.3  Parents of under five children will have some
knowledge on malnutrition.
Children are malnourished if their diet does not provide  Parents of under five children will have positive
adequate nutrients for growth and maintenance or they are attitude towards malnutrition.
unable to fully utilize the food they eat due to illness (under  Parents of under five children will have some
nutrition). 4 knowledge regarding the diet of children.
 Parents of children will extend their co-operation in
NEED FOR STUDY: providing factual information regarding their knowledge
In India about 2/3 portion of the under five children of our and attitude on malnutrition.
country is malnourished among them 5-8% is severely
malnourished whole rest fall in the group of mild or Limitations:
moderate malnutrition so it can be said that malnutrition  Only 50 mothers/fathers of under five children in
one of the most wide spread conditions affecting child village of Belgaum District.
health.5  Data collection is limited to 4-5 weeks.
 Data collection is only in the area of Belgaum District.
In India nearly 75% of the populations reside in the village
 Data collection is through interview method.
of the total rural population around 50% is still under the
poverty lines. Majority of children in India are not in a
position to get adequate nourishment because of very low REVIEW OF LITERATURE:
per capita income of their families. A significant proportion The Review of Literature arranged in 2 sections,
of these children live in economic and social environment  Section- A: Studies related to knowledge regarding
which impedes the child’s physical and mental malnutrition among parents of under five children.
development, this condition include poverty, poor  Section- B: Studies related to attitude regarding
environment sanitation, diseases, infections, inadequate malnutrition among parents of under five children.
access to primary health care, inappropriate child caring and
feeding practices.6 Research approach
In this study the descriptive survey approach was used and
aimed at assessing the knowledge and attitude regarding
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: malnutrition among parents of under five children.
“A descriptive study to assess the knowledge and attitude
regarding malnutrition among parents of under five children Research design
at selected area of Belgaum District”. In view of the nature of the study and to accomplish the
objectives of the study, Non experimental design was
OBJECTIVES: appropriate to assess the knowledge and attitude regarding
1) To assess the knowledge regarding malnutrition among malnutrition among parents of under five children.
parents of under five children.
2) To assess the attitude regarding malnutrition among Setting
parents of under five children. Setting is the physical location and condition in which data
3) To correlate the knowledge and attitude regarding collection takes place. The study was conducted in Bastwad
malnutrition among parents of under five children. Village of Belgaum district.
4) To find out the association between knowledge and
attitude regarding malnutrition with selected demographic Population
variables of parents of under five children. In the present study the population comprised of parents
having children below 5 years of age living in the selected
village of Belgaum district (Bastwad)

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 Asian J. Nursing Edu. and Research 5(1): Jan.-March 2015

Variables: Degree and Above 2(4%) (Fig-5). Major type of families

 Independent Variables: Informant, Age, Education, was 36(72%) Nuclear, 10(20%) Joint and minimum were
Extended 4(8%) (Fig-6).Maximum Occupation of mother
Occupation, Religion, Type of family, Number of children,
was 46(92%) unemployed and remaining Employed 4(8%)
Food pattern of the family, Source of information previous
experience and previous exposure to malnutrition. (Fig-7). Occupation of Father 1(2%) Unemployed, 7(14%)
 Dependent Variables: knowledge and attitude of Government employee, 20(40%) Private employee and
malnutrition among parents of under five children. Others 22(44%) (Fig-8). Majority of family income were
3000 and below 27(54%) and 6(12%) 12001 and below
Sample and sample size: were minimum (Fig-9).About 38(76%) of the parents were
The present study was conducted among 50 parents of Vegetarian, 5(10%) Non-Vegetarian and 7(14%) remaining
under five children. were Mixed (Fig-10).. Maximum 33(66%) parent had only
one child, 13(26%) parents had two children and 3 children
Sampling technique and Above 4(8%) (Fig-11). Maximum parents were getting
The sampling technique used for the present study is information from 23(46%) Others and 14(28%) Health care
convenient sampling technique. Workers. 5(10%) mass media 5(10%), Family friend 2(4%)
Neighbor and very low no 1(2%) (Fig-12).
Criteria for Selection of Sample:
Inclusion Criteria:
Mothers/Fathers
 Having under five children (1-5 years)
 Who can understand, read and write Kannada, Hindi,
and Marathi.
 Residing in selected urban area.
 Willing to participate in the study.
 Available at the time of data collection. Fig 1 : Percentage distribution of informant of parents of under
 Having more than one child. five children

Exclusion Criteria:
Mothers/fathers
 Having children group more than 5 years.
 Working in Health care sector.
Child
 Suffering with any chronic physical or mental illness

Description of the tool

The tools were designed for collecting relevant information
Fig.2 Percentage Distribution of age of parents of under five
from the parents of under five children regarding their children
demographic data, knowledge and attitude on malnutrition.
The tools were divided into three parts;
 Part A: Demographic Data of parents of under five
children. It consists of 12 items of demographic variables.
 Part B: Structured interview schedule seeks
information about knowledge on Malnutrition.
 Part C: Attitude scale to assess the attitude among
parents towards malnutrition.
Fig.3 Percentage Distribution of Area of Residence of parents of
under five children
Major finding:
Regarding the informer 28(56%) were mothers and
remaining 22(44%) fathers (Fig-1). Age of parents about
5(10%) of samples belongs to 18 years and below, 11
(22%) belongs to 19-22 years, 29(58%) of samples fit in to
23-27 years, 5(10%) were in the age group of 28 years &
above (Fig-2). Majority of the parents 50(100%) were
residing in rural area (Fig-3). Maximum parents 35(70%),
belongs to Jain religion. 10(20%), Hindu religion 4(8%)
Muslim religion and remaining were Christian religion
1(2%) (Fig-4). Education status of parents about 7(14%)
were Illiterate, 35(70%) Primary, 6(12%) Secondary and Fig.4 Percentage Distribution of Religion of parents of under five
children
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 Asian J. Nursing Edu. and Research 5(1): Jan.-March 2015

Fig.10 Percentage Distribution of Food Pattern of parents of

under five children
Fig.5 Percentage Distribution of Education status of parents of
under five children

Fig.11 Percentage Distribution of No. of Children of parents of

Fig.6 Percentage Distribution of Type of Family of parents of under five children
under five children

Fig.7 Percentage Distribution of occupation of parents of under

five children
Fig.12 Percentage Distribution of Source of Information of
parents of under five children

PART-B: Assessment of knowledge among parents of

parents of under five children.
Table-1: Distribution of knowledge on malnutrition among parents of
under five children. N=50
Level of knowledge Number Percentage
Inadequate knowledge 15 30
Moderately Adequate knowledge 29 58
Adequate knowledge 06 12

Fig.8 Percentage Distribution of Occupation of Fathers of under Table 2 describes that 29 (58%) of parents had Moderately
five children Adequate knowledge, about 15(30%) were having
Inadequate knowledge and remaining 6(12%) were having
adequate knowledge (fig-13).

Table-2: Mean and Standard Deviation of knowledge on malnutrition

among parents of under five children. N=50
Statistics Knowledge on Malnutrition
Mean 8.64
Standard Deviation 2.57
The above table explains that the knowledge on
malnutrition scored mean is 8.64 with a standard deviation
Fig.9 Percentage Distribution of Family Income of Parents of of 2.57
under five children

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 Asian J. Nursing Edu. and Research 5(1): Jan.-March 2015

towards the malnutrition (fig-15).

Fig.13: Distribution of knowledge on malnutrition among parents

Fig 15.Corelation between Knowledge and Attitude

Association between knowledge of parents and

Demographic Variables
There was no significant association found between the
knowledge on malnutrition among parents of under five
children and demographic variables such as Informant age,
education, occupation, economic status, type of family,
religion, area of residence, food pattern, and source of
information.

Association between Attitude of parents and

Fig.14: Distribution of attitude on malnutrition among parents
Demographic Variables
There was no significant association found between attitude
PART-C: Assessment of attitude among parents of
on Malnutrition among parents, demographic variables such
parents of under five children
Table-3: Distribution of attitude on malnutrition among parents of
as Informant age, education, occupation, economic status,
under five children. N=50 and type of family, religion, area of residence, food pattern,
Level of attitude Number Percentage and source of information
Negative attitude 00 00
Moderately positive attitude 43 86 DISCUSSION:
Positive attitude 7 14
This chapter deals with the detailed discussion on the
findings of the study interpreted from the analysis.
Table 4 describe that 43 (86%) were having moderately
The findings of the study are discussed in relation to the
attitude and remaining 7(14%) were having positive attitude
objectives, need for the study and related literature of the
on malnutrition (fig-14).
study.
Table-4: Mean and Standard Deviation of attitude on malnutrition
N=50 Characteristics of Selected Demographic Variables of
Statistics Attitude level the Sample:
Mean 32.84  56% of mothers were given the Information on
Standard Deviation 3.38 malnutrition
 58% of parents were in the age group of 23-27 years
The above table explains that the attitude on malnutrition  100% of parents were from Rural area
scored a mean is 32.84 with a standard deviation of  70% of parents were belongs to Jain religion
3.38(fig-16).  70% of parents were studied Primary
 72% of parents were belongs to Nuclear family
PART-D: Correlation between knowledge and attitude
 92% of mothers were Unemployed Mothers
regarding malnutrition among parents of under five
children. r= 0.097 N=50
 40% of fathers were private employed Fathers
 54% of parents monthly income is Rs. 3000 and below
The above ‘r’ value shows that there is a positive  76% of parents dietary pattern is Vegetarians
correlation between Knowledge and attitude on  66% of parents had only one children
malnutrition among parents of under five children. This  46% of parents were got information from Others and
implies that parents of under five children had moderately Health Care Workers
adequate knowledge and moderately positive attitude

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 Asian J. Nursing Edu. and Research 5(1): Jan.-March 2015

Assessment of knowledge among parents of under five Implications for Nursing Administration
children The nurse administrators should see that the aspect of health
This finding shows that 29(58%) of parents were having promotion while providing nursing care. Nursing
moderately adequate knowledge. The mean value of administration should implement the program should
knowledge on malnutrition was 8.64 with a standard organize Continuing Nursing Education (conferences,
deviation of 2.57. workshop, seminar and education) on malnutrition and its
consequences. The Community Nurse Administrator should
Assessment of attitude among parents of under five educate nurses working under them on various aspects of
children malnutrition such as health problems due to malnutrition,
The judgment shows that attitude 43(86%) of parents were legal aspects, prevention, treatments and rehabilitation.
having moderately positive attitude. The mean value of
attitude on malnutrition was 32.84 with a standard deviation Implications for Nursing Research
of 3.38. There is a need for more and in depth nursing research on
malnutrition in order to provide evidenced based nursing
Correlation between knowledge and attitude regarding care. People generally believe the malnutrition is effectively
malnutrition among parents prevented by providing good nutrition. Hence there is a
Result show that there is a strong positive correlation need for comprehensive nursing research on malnutrition
between knowledge and attitude regarding malnutrition which helps in finding effective measures and solutions in
among parents of under five children (r=1.132.) this implies the management of malnutrition.
if there is increase in knowledge the attitude also increase.
LIMITATIONS:
Association between knowledge scores of the parents of  Only 50 mothers/fathers of under five children in area
under five children with selected demographic variables of Belgaum District.
There is no significant association between knowledge and  Data collection is limited to 4-5 weeks.
demographic variables such as Informer age, education,  Data collection is only in the area of Belgaum District.
occupation, economic status, type of family, religion, area  Data collection is through interview method.
of residence, food pattern, and source of information of the  A large number of samples could not be taken because
parental knowledge on Malnutrition. of the time constrains.
Association between attitude scores of the parents of RECOMMENDATIONS:
under five children with selected demographic variables The following studies can be undertaken to strengthen the
There is no significant association between attitude andaccident & emergency care.
demographic variables such as Informer age, education, 1) The same study can be repeated in different regions of
occupation, economic status, type of family, religion, area
the state or nation so as to compare the results.
of residence, food pattern, and source of information of the
2) The same study can be repeated on a large sample so as
parental attitude on Malnutrition. to generalize the results.
3) Similar kind of study can be conducted among
NURSING IMPLICATIONS: different age group of children.
The findings of the study have implications on nursing 4) The same study can be conducted as experimental
education, nursing practice, nursing administration and study i.e STP or NEP.
nursing research.
CONCLUSION:
Implications for Nursing Education The study was concluded by if there is an increase in
The nursing curriculum should having emphasis on knowledge the attitude also increases towards malnutrition
malnutrition and its consequences which help the nurses to among parents of under five children.
interview the target group in the form of health awareness,
prevention of malnutrition and health problems due to REFERENCE:
malnutrition. 1. Darshan sohi. A Text book of nutrition (for nursing course). 1st
ed. Jalandhar: PV publications; 2010. p.
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major role in health promotion and maintenance in the 3. Williams. Basic nutrition and diet therapy. 12th ed. New Delhi:
clinical as well as in community setup; it is a practicing Elsevier publication; 2000. P. 4.
4. The British Dietetic association, food fact sheet. Available at
profession, hence the researcher generally integrate findings
www.bda.uk.com/food fact
into practice. 5. Principles of parenting: Meeting children’s needs 1995. Available
at : http://www. aces.edu/pubs/docs/H/HE-0685/
6. H.Darlene Marin. Extension nutrition specialist northeast
research. Availablefrom http://www.nnncc.org/nutrition/nutrition.
pres.html. April- 1997.

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