Socioeconomic background and feeding practices of families with severely malnourished children

A total of 58 mothers and 2 guardians whose children were admitted with severe malnutrition at the Mitundu Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre were interviewed to identify the socioeconomic background and feeding practices. 80 percent of the families depended solely on farming for food and income. 57 percent of the mothers were illiterate; 42 percent of the mothers had polygamous husbands. 40 percent of the children were completely weaned before 12 months of age and a total of 76 percent of the mothers used harsh methods for weaning their children. Inappropriate weaning methods appear to be an important cause of childhood malnutrition

The effect of mother's age; parity and antenatal clinic attendance on infant birth weight

Data from 252 deliveries at a rural hospital during 1988 and 1989 showed that infants born to adolescent mothers had the lowest mean birth wieght and highest incidence of low birth weight. Adolescent mothers were; in general; mothers of low parity level; and highest incidence of low birth weight was observed in mothers of parity 0 or 1. Average virth weights were higher at parity levels of 4 and 5. Although almost every woman attended the antenatal clinic; women who attended the clinic more than 3 times during pregnancy tended to have higher birth weight infants. More detailed data from 40 of these deliveries suggested that low socioeconomic status and household food insecurity during pregnancy are also associated with lower birth weight infants

Nutrition facts for Malawian families

This book brings together information for workers at the grassroots level on all aspects of nutrition education in Malawi which should help families and communities improve their food security and nutritional status