Prevalence and risk factors for malnutrition among children aged 5 years and less in the Lefaragatlha village of Bophuthatswana.

A cross-sectioned study was conducted at the Lefaragatha village of Bophuthatswana to document the prevalence and risk factors for malnutrition in children aged 0-5 years in June 1991. Fifty four households, in which there were children in the right age groups, were interviewed over three weeks. Of these children 14 (25.9%) were below the 3rd percentile of weight for age of the 1976 National Centre for Health Statistics standards; in the age group of 2 years and less, this figure was 28.6%, while in children older than 2 years the corresponding figure was 71.4%. Malnutrition was associated with a mother's consumption of alcohol and lack of resources such as water and an inappropriate staple diet. Education and income were not significant variables.