Introduction: Malnutrition is the broad term referring to under nutrition or over nutrition. But in this guide the term refers to deficiency of nutrition. According to WHO one child dies every 5 seconds as a result of hunger. Malnutrition contributes to more than 50% of all deaths in children worldwide. 10 million deaths per year are either directly or indirectly secondary to malnutrition in children younger than 5 years.
Tanzania is among the African countries with the highest levels of malnutrition. About 42 percent of children under five are stunted, eight out of ten children under one are anemic and about a third of children aged 6-59 months are vitamin A deficient. Poor nutrition is also a serious problem among women of reproductive age, with more than half of pregnant women anemic and one in ten women undernourished.
Prevalence of malnutrition varies from one country to another and is more in developing countries. Abrupt weaning with diluted animal milk and lack of breast feeding contribute to malnutrition in the first year of life, while in the second year it is due to the inadequate intake of protein and calories which lead to starvation. In developing countries, malnutrition contributes to more than 50% of under-five mortality. Deaths due to malnutrition increase when there is an increase of food insecurity, absolute poverty, famine, ignorance and poor maternal nutrition, all of which are common other major contributory factors for malnutrition. Malnourished survivors are left with mental developmental delay, poor school performance and reduced intellectual achievements.
In Tanzania, a community based study done in 2010 in order to assess the nutritional status of children less than 5 years using weight for height/length reported that 5% of children were wasted (≤-2SD) and 1% were severely wasted (≤-3SD).
In Mwanza, data from Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey, 2010 showed the prevalence of moderate and severe malnutrition to be 3.9% and 1.3% respectively.
Wurzburg Road 35, BMC Premises, Post Code: 33102: P. O Box 1464, Mwanza – Tanzania: Phone: +255 28 298 3384: Fax: +255 28 298 3386: Email: vc@bugando.ac.tz : www.bugando.ac.tz