Malaria and Nutritional Status of Children in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria is a major cause of morbidity especially in children less than five years of age. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between malaria infection and nutritional status of some purposely selected children aged 0–36 months from hospitals in Anambra State, Nigeria. Data were collected on nutritional status using anthropometric data – age, height, weight and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC). Malaria infection status was obtained through microscopic examination of thick films blood smears. The prevalence of malnutrition (weight-for-height Z - scores) among malaria uninfected in the community and hospital surveys was 26.7%   and 9.2% respectively, while the prevalence among the malaria parasite infected children was 21.4% and 7.4% in the community and hospital respectively. The average number of malnourished children with Z-scores <-2SD were slightly higher than WHO standard. More malaria infected boys had Z-scores <-2SD compared to the WHO standard. Prevalence of malnutrition based on MUAC among malaria parasite infected children was very high (100% and 98.1% in community and hospital, respectively). The average number of stunted (height-for-age Z-score) children in both community and hospital survey was very high compare to WHO standard.  It may be concluded that there is a high rate of malnutrition based on MUAC among malaria infected children in Anambra State.