The prevalence of acute malnutrition in Primary School going children

In Kenya malnutrition continues to be a public health problem, and consequently vital opportunities to save millions of lives are being lost, and many more children are not growing and thriving to their full potential. Child malnutrition impacts on education attainment and the degree of cognitive impairments is directly related to the severity of chronic malnutrition, where in the first two years of life malnutrition causes lower cognitive test scores, delayed enrollment, higher absenteeism and more class repetition compared to well-nourished children. A descriptive cross sectional study, with systematic sampling using the class register, and use of Anthropometry screening tools such as; Camry weighing scale used for weighing the children and a height rod was for taking height of the children were used for nutritional assessment. A total of 486 children were screened and results showed 72.2% (approximately 7 out of 10) pupils in the three (3) primary schools had Acute Malnutrition or GAM (MAM and SAM combined) with the 14.6% that were underweight risk having Acute Malnutrition.