Assessment of Nutrition Status for Sudanese Children (6-59 months) Internally Displaced Persons Camps in Kosti, White Nile State, Sudan
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
Abstract
Background: Malnutrition among displaced children remains a major public health issue, especially due to the heightened vulnerability of this age group.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the nutritional status of children aged 6–59 months in two displaced camps, Alalgaia and Dababt-Bosin, in East Kosti, White Nile State, Sudan.
Methods: This cross-sectional study and data were collected between December 2023 and January 2024. Data were collected from 110 children and their mothers, using questionnaires that focused on socio-demographic, health, and dietary aspects. The data were analyzed using SPSS Version 22.0.
Results: Most mothers (40%) were aged between 18 and 24 years, and 52.7% were illiterate. Approximately 66.1% of the mothers had between 1 and 5 children under the age of five. The majority of fathers (62.7%) were over 30 years old. Nutritional assessments using MUAC showed that 58.2% of children were normal, while 28.2% had moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) and 13.6% had severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Based on the prevalence of Z-scores, 42.7% of children were wasted, 37.3% underweight, and 28.2% stunted. Severe forms included 18.2% severely underweight, 14.5% severely wasted, and 10.9% severely stunted, while overweight and obesity were minimal (1.8%). Using BMI-for-age, 54.5% were within normal range, 37.3% had MAM, 6.4% had SAM, and 1.8% were overweight and obese. No significant relationships were found between age of children and MUAC status (p = 0.185) or age group and weight-for-age (p = 0.185). Dietary patterns showed poor meal frequency and limited consumption of fruits, milk, and protein-rich foods, with a reliance on staple items like Kisra, Miakilo, and Acida.
Conclusion: The high prevalence of malnutrition highlights the urgent need for targeted nutritional interventions and healthcare services to improve the well-being of displaced children in these camps.
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
Malnutrition Nutritional, assessments, displaced camps, child nutrition, Sudan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
YJMS publishes Open Access articles under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. If author(s) submit their manuscript for consideration by YJMS, they agree to have the CC BY license applied to their work, which means that it may be reused in any form provided that the author(s) and the journal are properly cited. Under this license, author(s) also preserve the right of reusing the content of their manuscript provided that they cite the YJMS.
