The Prevalence of Malnutrition Among Children Under 5 years of Age and Associated Factors in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

Abstract “The Prevalence of Malnutrition Among Children Under 5 Years of Age and Associated Factors in Democratic Republic of the Congo” Background: The child malnutrition, with high prevalence in low-income and middle-income countries, is responsible of substantial increases in mortality and overall disease burden. In Sub-Saharan Africa countries, child malnutrition is associated with approximately 60 percent of under-five mortality. In DRC, studies focused on the prevalence of malnutrition among under-five children and the factors associated are quasi-inexistent. Hence, the present study was carried out not only to find out the matter but also to fill the gap of insufficient in publication on this topic. Methods: A quantitative-based cross-sectional design using secondary data from the sample for the MICS-PALU, DRC 2017-2018, which was designed by UNICEF. A total of 21477 under-five children was concerned by the study and descriptive analysis using percent and frequency was calculated for the 2 anthropometric indicators: weight for age and height for age; the regression analysis to identify factors associated with the malnutrition in children under 5 years old and bivariable and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify the risk factors related to malnutrition in the 26 provinces of DRC. Results: The prevalence of stunting and malnutrition is 43,1 and 24% respectively. 3 years old children, mostly male, are more concerned. The high proportion of stunting and malnutrition is found in the west part of the DR Congo. The vaccination is not a predictor for stunting and malnutrition but living in a rural area, having an illiterate mother and weighting less than 4 kgs are associated factors for the stunting and malnutrition. Conclusion: 43,1% of under-five children were stunted and 24% of them, malnourished in DR Congo. 3 years’ children have a high proportion of stunting (2.7 times) than children of 0 year, following by children of 4 years age group who were 2.5 times stunted than o year age group children in urban area. Contrariwise, the same age groups were respectively 2.7 and 2.8 times more malnourished than 0 year of age children in rural areas. The underlying factors such as child gender especially male, child weight, child from illiterate mother, being from a rural area, from the western part of the country or not having health insurance, not being breastfed, and not having been managed for a minor illness as well as using the unimproved water source for drinking have been associated with the malnutrition and stunting in DR Congo.