Socio-demographic Factors, Household Social Capital and Nutritional Status among Under-five Children in Ibadan South-east Local Government, Oyo State

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of socio-demographic factors on nutritional status of under-five children; ascertained the relationship between household social capital and nutritional status of under-five children; examined the joint effect of socio-demographic factors and household social capital on nutritional status of under-five children in Ibadan South East Local Government, Oyo State. These were to understand the determinants of nutritional status among under-five children in the study area. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design and employed primary data through the administration of a set of structured questionnaires. Measurement of weight and height was done to determine the nutritional status of children aged 0 to 59 months. The questionnaire was administered on women aged 15-49years. The estimated number of women within reproductive ages was 66, 421 based on 2006 population census. Slovin’s formula (1999) was adopted to determine the sample size. Thus, 400 copies of the questionnaire were administered in the study area. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics which involved the use of frequencies and percentages. Cross tabulation, chi-square and binary logistic regression were employed for the inferential aspect of the analysis. The results showed that about 67% of under-five children were malnourished. In the bivariate analysis, birth order had a strong association with nutritional status of under-five children with χ² = 13.90, p = 0.031. In the multivariate analysis, women who were not working were 0.5 times (p>0.05) less likely to have children with normal nutrition compared to those who were currently working. The study concluded that there were higher proportions of malnourished children of under-five in Ibadan South-east Local Government, Oyo State.