Waihenya E W, Kogi-Makau W, Muita J W
Department of Food Technology and Nutrition, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences, University of Nairobi, Kenya.
East Afr Med J. 1996 Jul;73(7):419-23.
Most nutrition education programmes in Kenya operate on the premise that nutritional knowledge can have an impact on children's nutritional status. It has, however, been argued that nutritional knowledge among low income groups is unlikely to have an impact, hence, the need to establish whether there is a relationship between nutritional status and maternal nutritional knowledge. In a cross-sectional survey carried out in a Nairobi slum (Kibera), nutritional status of 363 children aged six to 24 months was measured and nutritional knowledge of their mothers assessed. Makina village was randomly selected as the study site and all consenting households were involved in the study. The study established that most mothers (97.5%) have access to nutrition education. Prevalence of stunting (86.2%) and underweight (58.4%) was high but that of wasting (1.9%) was low. There was no significant relationship between the nutritional status of children and overall nutritional knowledge. Unexpectedly, a negative relationship was found between nutritional status and mothers' ability to recognise clinical signs of malnutrition, knowledge in the weaning process and dietary management during sickness. Knowledge on frequency of feeding was, however, positively related to nutritional states. In conclusion, nutritional knowledge alone is inadequate in ensuring young children's nutrition security and, hence, for nutrition education programmes to have a positive impact, facilitational strategies must be incorporated.
肯尼亚的大多数营养教育项目都是基于营养知识能够对儿童营养状况产生影响这一前提开展的。然而，有人认为低收入群体的营养知识不太可能产生影响，因此，有必要确定营养状况与母亲的营养知识之间是否存在关联。在对内罗毕一个贫民窟（基贝拉）进行的横断面调查中，测量了363名6至24个月大儿童的营养状况，并评估了他们母亲的营养知识。随机选择马基纳村作为研究地点，所有同意参与的家庭都参与了研究。研究发现，大多数母亲（97.5%）能够获得营养教育。发育迟缓（86.2%）和体重不足（58.4%）的患病率很高，但消瘦（1.9%）的患病率很低。儿童的营养状况与总体营养知识之间没有显著关系。出乎意料的是，营养状况与母亲识别营养不良临床体征的能力、断奶过程中的知识以及患病期间的饮食管理之间存在负相关。然而，关于喂养频率的知识与营养状况呈正相关。总之，仅靠营养知识不足以确保幼儿的营养安全，因此，为使营养教育项目产生积极影响，必须纳入促进策略。
