Assessment on the Adequacy of Energy and Micronutrients in the Food Supplied and the Nutritional Status of Children from Selected Orphanages in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Date
2017-03
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
It is well known that the increasing number of orphans and vuln erabl e children in Ethiopia have
resulted in the expansion of orphanages in whi ch chil dren are provided with bas ic necessities o f
li fe including food, clothin g, shelter, schoo ling and health care fac ili ties. However, children in
these in stitu tions become undernouri shed due to lack of adequate resou rces and li mitations of
knowledge and understandin g on th eir nutri tional needs. In Ethi opia, although diffe rent
researches have been conducted on the nu tr it ional status of children, only few studies are done
that assessed the adequacy of nutrients given and the nutritio nal status of chi Idren in orphanages.
The main objective of th is study was therefore to assess the energy adequacy of the food given
and the nutritional status of c hildren from selected four orp hanages in Add is Ababa. An
in stitution based cross sectional study with multistage random sampling was applied between
Janua ry to Febru ary 2016. Structured questionnaires were used to coll ect data from the children
and caretakers in the orphanages. Food samples that were given in the se lected orphanages
throu ghout the week were collected and tested in the laboratory for their nutrient composition
and were analyzed using independent samp le t-test to determine differences between government
and non government orphanages. One sample H esl was also applied 10 compare the energy
difference between the meal given in the orphanages with the RDA. The child ren's nutritional
status was assessed anthropometrica lly usi ng a Height-for-Age, Weight-for-Age and Weight-forHe
ight indices. WHO Anthro plus software for Assess ing Growth of the World's Chi ldren and
Adolescents was used. t-test for proportions was used to compare the differences in proportions
of children who were malnourished among government and non government orphanages. The
da ily mean energy intake of the children was 1320 ± 304 Kcal. The prevalence of stunting,
underweight and wasting among the children was 20.96 %, 17.34 % and 9.27 %. The total mean
energy intake among the chi ldren in non government orphanages was significantly higher
(p<O.OS) than government orphanages. The children in government orphanages had signifi cant ly
higher rate of stunting and underweight (p< 0.05) than children in non government orphanages.
However, there was no significant di ffe rence in wasting among the two groups (p> 0. 05). In
conclu sion, thi s study fo und that malnutrition is prevalent among children in se lected orphanages
of Addis Ababa. To improve the nutri t ional status of the children, stakeholders should formulate
and strengthen nutrition programs and polic ies oriented towards this segment of the population.
Key words: Malnutrition, Children, Orphanages, Add is Ababa.
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Keywords
Malnutrition, Children, Orphanages