Akindele Ajayi A¹, Adeola Ajayi O¹, Ibrahim Muritala A², Ogungbemi Ayodeji O³, Adedire A⁴, Akande Roseline O⁵, Akande Joel O⁶, Akinnuoye Akinwumi A⁷, Olumide Gbala M⁷, Falade J⁸

¹Department of Psychiatry, Osun State University, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria.

²College of Health Sciences, Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo Osun State, Nigeria.

³Department of Family Medicine, Osun State University Osogbo, Osun State

⁴Department of Surgery, Osun State University Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria.

⁵Department of Community Medicine, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State Nigeria.

⁶Department of Chemical Pathology, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria.

⁷Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, University of Medical Sciences Ondo, Ondo State, Nigeria.

⁸Department of Mental Health, University of Medical Sciences Ondo, Ondo State, Nigeria.

Corresponding authors 1: Dr. Joshua Falade, Department of Mental Health, University of Medical Sciences Ondo, Ondo State, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6612-07025; +234 80 34394978

Corresponding authors 2: Dr. Olumide Gbala, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Medical Sciences Ondo, Ondo State, https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9109-1448, +234 8038197681

Citation: Akindele Ajayi A, Adeola Ajayi O, Ibrahim Muritala A, Ogungbemi Ayodeji O, Adedire A, Akande Roseline O, Akande Joel O, Akinnuoye Akinwumi A, Olumide Gbala M, Falade J (2025) Assessing The Prevenance and Determinants of Malnutrition Among Under 5 Children Attending Primary Health Crae in Oke Baale, Osogbo, Osun. J Ment Health Phys Health, 2(1);1-6.

Copyright: © 2025, Dr. Joshua Falade, et al., This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

ABSTRACT

Background: Malnutrition among children under five remains a significant public health challenge in Nigeria, driven by factors such as poverty, low maternal education, and inadequate healthcare access.

Aim: The study aimed to determine the prevalence of malnutrition (underweight, stunting, and wasting) and identify socio-demographic determinants influencing nutritional status.

Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used, employing a validated questionnaire.

Results: The study included 420 children, with a slightly higher percentage of females (57.1%) than males (42.2%). Most parents had attained tertiary education, and 62.9% of households earned ₦70,000 or more monthly. The mean age of the children was 1.84±1.16 years, with an average of 2.0±1.0 siblings and complementary feeding introduced at 5.0±1.5 months. The prevalence of malnutrition was 21.2%, with 23.7% underweight, 11.5% stunted, and 23.1% wasted. Maternal education and household income were strongly associated with malnutrition. Children from households earning less than ₦70,000 had significantly higher odds of malnutrition (OR: 4.494, CI: 2.022–9.991, p=0.001). Each unit increase in the number of siblings increased the odds of malnutrition by 3.270 (CI: 2.069–5.172, p=0.001), while delayed introduction to complementary feeding increased the odds by 1.743 (CI: 1.398–2.172, p=0.001).

Conclusion: The study highlights a high prevalence of malnutrition among children under five in Oke Baale, with significant associations between malnutrition and low maternal education, household income, number of siblings, and delayed complementary feeding. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions, including nutrition education, economic empowerment, and improved access to healthcare, to address the root causes of malnutrition in this community.

Keywords: Children, Malnutrition, Primary health care, Osogbo.