Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices and Nutritional Status of Children Aged 6-59 Months Seeking Medical Care at Kyegegwa Hospital, Kyegegwa District, Uganda

Malnutrition refers to improper intake of energy and nutrients. In Uganda, the prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting stands at 29%, 11%, and 4% respectively. This study was carried out to document the feeding practices and establish the relationship between the nutrition status of children 6-59 months old seeking health care at Kyegegwa Hospital, hence facilitating the understanding of the complicated links between nutrition and disease. A quantitative and qualitative cross-sectional study was carried out using simple random sampling to select 150 children aged 6-59 months. A semi-structured questionnaire, observation checklist, Focused Group Discussion guide and anthropometrical measurements were used. Qualitative and quantitative data was analysed using Nvivo and STATA respectively following export from Excel. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with nutritional status. A p-value < 0.05 was considered significant with 95% confidence interval. Prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting in this study were 4.67%, 10%, and 0.67% respectively. The average meal frequency (63.2%) was three times in the past 24 hours with the highest (52%) number of children being fed using cups. Less than 50% ate Vitamin A rich fruit, meal frequency was significantly associated with stunting, and reliability of water supply was associated with wasting. Prevalence of stunting (10%) and underweight (4.67%) was high but lower than the national level. Meal frequency and reliability of water supply were significantly associated with the nutritional status of children aged 6-59 month