Factors that influence the nutritional status of children in wet and dry seasons among the pastoralists in West Golis-Guban, Somalia

The nutritional situation of Somalia’s pastoral population remains vulnerable, the key causes of malnutrition are limited nutrient intake and high disease prevalence. This study set out to determine the key factors that influence the nutritional status of children aged 6-59 months, within the West Golis-Guban pastoral livelihood in a dry and wet season. Cross sectional nutrition surveys were conducted in the wet and dry season of October 2008 and July 2009, collecting information on anthropometry, food consumption, child feeding and morbidity. A total of 535 and 772 children were assessed in the dry and wet season respectively. Data was mainly collected using a standard household forms. Data was analysed using ENA and SPSS software packages. Chi Square tests was used to test significance and associations, logistic regression was used for testing the relationship between categorical variables and relevant independent variables, P value for statistical significance was set at <0.05. The prevalence of global acute malnutrition during the dry season was 22.3%, with 6.6% being severely malnourished. These rates were significantly lower (p=0.006), in the wet season (13.3% and 2.5% respectively), indicating lower levels of acute malnutrition in the wet season. The common foods consumed in both season was cereals, sugar and oils, dietary diversity as better in the wet season with vegetables, milk and pulses consumed in addition to the common foods. A higher proportion of households (86.5%) consumed a diverse diet (≥ 4 food groups) during the wet season compared to the dry season (76.4%). A significantly higher (p= 0.000) proportion of households consumed milk during the wet season (60.4%) compared to the dry season (33.5%). Regression analysis showed a positive relationship between household dietary diversity score and weight for height z scores in the wet season. There was no difference in the proportion of children aged 6-24 months breastfeeding in the wet (49.1%) xvi and dry season (48.9%). Only 13.5% and 12.7% of ...