Modeling Key Drivers of Under-Five Child Malnutrition in Marsabit County, Kenya: Application of the Logit Model

Abstract

Malnutrition remains one of the major problems in developing countries affecting both adults and children under 5 years. The use of binary logistic regression model was employed, and parameters of interest estimated. Results showed that 29.3 percent of the children were acutely malnourished. There was an insignificant difference between household food security and child malnutrition status  Factors such as the age of caregivers, household size, the gender of the child, and the level of education of caregivers, if the child was weighed at birth, source of income, the occupation status, and the distance to the water source remained insignificant at a multivariate level. However, factors such as full-term maternal pregnancy, the child being ill for the past two weeks, and the study site were strong significant factors affecting the status of childhood malnutrition. Moreover, mothers with full-term pregnancy up to the birth were 53 percent less likely to have malnourished infants when compared to their counterparts whose pregnancy was not term. Mothers/caregivers who traveled more than half a kilometer were twice more likely to have their children malnourished than those who had traveled less than half a kilometer. It recommended that the policymakers and the entire County government of Marsabit should build more social amenities that provide pregnant women with full-term maternal checkups for both antenatal and postnatal care. County government of Marsabit should lobby and mobilize resources for food aid or cash transfers to households.