Anthropometric and Biochemical Assessment among Under Five Children in Kusada Local Government Area, Katsina State, Nigeria

Abstract

Nutritional status of four hundred (400) children aged 1-5 years old was assessed from three communities in Kusada Local Government Area, namely, Bokosire, Dudunni C and Bauranya B. Semi-structured interview, quantitative anthropometric methodology in respect of mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) and weight-for-height (WFH) indices, and biochemical tests of serum calcium, albumin, total protein, and hemoglobin were used for the assessment to extract relevant data from the target population. Out of 400 assessed children (250 female and 150 male) between 1-5 years old, twenty four percent (24%) suffered from different grades of under-nutrition using MUAC measurement with a set point of 13.5 cm. Similarly, the nutritional status of the children as indicated by WFH index revealed that thirty six percent (36%) were of different grades of proteinenergy malnutrition (PEM) as per Waterlow classification. However, the biochemical tests across the communities for ninety (90) children selected from the total 400 [60 under-nourished (MUAC≤ 13.5cm) and 30 well-nourished (MUAC> 13.5cm) children] revealed that serum albumin, total protein, calcium, and haemoglobin were lowered significantly (P<0.05) in under-nourished children.

Keywords: Children aged 1-5 years old, Nutritional status, Malnutrition, Serum protein.