Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) recommend colostrum feeding in the first few days after birth. Colostrum is the first milk containing proteins, vitamin A and maternal antibodies. Objective: This study was aimed to assess the role of colostrum feeding on the nutritional status of preschool children in Afambo district, Afar Region, Northeastern Ethiopia. Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted in Afambo district of Afar Regional State from January 21 to February 05/2015. Anthropometric measurements (weight and length/height) were done for all study children. WHO Anthro version 3.2.2 was used to convert height and weight measures into z-scores using the WHO reference population. Then, Chi-square test statistic was used to test the association between colostrum feeding and child under nutrition. Results: A total of 370 mother-child pairs were included in the study. Ninety one percent of the study mothers had ever breastfed their index child. About 35% of the mothers discarded colostrums. The chi-square test showed that colostrum feeding was associated with the three indicators of child under nutrition (stunting, underweight and wasting). Conclusion: This study showed that colostrum feeding is associated with the lower probabilities of under nutrition among preschool children. Therefore, all health partners aimed at improving the nutritional status of preschool children should give emphasis on the importance of colostrum feeding in the study area.
Published in | European Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 6) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160206.15 |
Page(s) | 87-91 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Afambo, Colostrum, Ethiopia, Nutritional Status, Preschool Children
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APA Style
Misgan Legesse Liben, Taye Abuhay, Yohannes Haile. (2016). The Role of Colostrum Feeding on the Nutritional Status of Preschool Children in Afambo District, Northeast Ethiopia: Descriptive Cross Sectional Study. European Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences, 2(6), 87-91. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160206.15
ACS Style
Misgan Legesse Liben; Taye Abuhay; Yohannes Haile. The Role of Colostrum Feeding on the Nutritional Status of Preschool Children in Afambo District, Northeast Ethiopia: Descriptive Cross Sectional Study. Eur. J. Clin. Biomed. Sci. 2016, 2(6), 87-91. doi: 10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160206.15
AMA Style
Misgan Legesse Liben, Taye Abuhay, Yohannes Haile. The Role of Colostrum Feeding on the Nutritional Status of Preschool Children in Afambo District, Northeast Ethiopia: Descriptive Cross Sectional Study. Eur J Clin Biomed Sci. 2016;2(6):87-91. doi: 10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160206.15
@article{10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160206.15, author = {Misgan Legesse Liben and Taye Abuhay and Yohannes Haile}, title = {The Role of Colostrum Feeding on the Nutritional Status of Preschool Children in Afambo District, Northeast Ethiopia: Descriptive Cross Sectional Study}, journal = {European Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences}, volume = {2}, number = {6}, pages = {87-91}, doi = {10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160206.15}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160206.15}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ejcbs.20160206.15}, abstract = {Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) recommend colostrum feeding in the first few days after birth. Colostrum is the first milk containing proteins, vitamin A and maternal antibodies. Objective: This study was aimed to assess the role of colostrum feeding on the nutritional status of preschool children in Afambo district, Afar Region, Northeastern Ethiopia. Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted in Afambo district of Afar Regional State from January 21 to February 05/2015. Anthropometric measurements (weight and length/height) were done for all study children. WHO Anthro version 3.2.2 was used to convert height and weight measures into z-scores using the WHO reference population. Then, Chi-square test statistic was used to test the association between colostrum feeding and child under nutrition. Results: A total of 370 mother-child pairs were included in the study. Ninety one percent of the study mothers had ever breastfed their index child. About 35% of the mothers discarded colostrums. The chi-square test showed that colostrum feeding was associated with the three indicators of child under nutrition (stunting, underweight and wasting). Conclusion: This study showed that colostrum feeding is associated with the lower probabilities of under nutrition among preschool children. Therefore, all health partners aimed at improving the nutritional status of preschool children should give emphasis on the importance of colostrum feeding in the study area.}, year = {2016} }
TY - JOUR T1 - The Role of Colostrum Feeding on the Nutritional Status of Preschool Children in Afambo District, Northeast Ethiopia: Descriptive Cross Sectional Study AU - Misgan Legesse Liben AU - Taye Abuhay AU - Yohannes Haile Y1 - 2016/12/29 PY - 2016 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160206.15 DO - 10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160206.15 T2 - European Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences JF - European Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences JO - European Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences SP - 87 EP - 91 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2575-5005 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejcbs.20160206.15 AB - Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) recommend colostrum feeding in the first few days after birth. Colostrum is the first milk containing proteins, vitamin A and maternal antibodies. Objective: This study was aimed to assess the role of colostrum feeding on the nutritional status of preschool children in Afambo district, Afar Region, Northeastern Ethiopia. Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted in Afambo district of Afar Regional State from January 21 to February 05/2015. Anthropometric measurements (weight and length/height) were done for all study children. WHO Anthro version 3.2.2 was used to convert height and weight measures into z-scores using the WHO reference population. Then, Chi-square test statistic was used to test the association between colostrum feeding and child under nutrition. Results: A total of 370 mother-child pairs were included in the study. Ninety one percent of the study mothers had ever breastfed their index child. About 35% of the mothers discarded colostrums. The chi-square test showed that colostrum feeding was associated with the three indicators of child under nutrition (stunting, underweight and wasting). Conclusion: This study showed that colostrum feeding is associated with the lower probabilities of under nutrition among preschool children. Therefore, all health partners aimed at improving the nutritional status of preschool children should give emphasis on the importance of colostrum feeding in the study area. VL - 2 IS - 6 ER -