Nutritional knowledge and practices of mothers/caregivers and its impact on the nutritional status of children 6-59 months in Sefwi Wiawso Municipality, Western-North Region, Ghana.

Background: Good maternal/caregiver nutrition knowledge protects the child from events that lead to low weight-for-age z-score (WAZ) and low height-for-age z-score (HAZ). Indicators of good child nutritional status have traditionally been low in cocoa-growing areas. This paper aimed to explore the relationship between maternal nutrition knowledge and practices and its effect on the nutritional status of children 6-59 months in the Sefwi Wiawso municipality; a predominant cocoa-growing area in Ghana.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study design was used to assess nutrition knowledge, nutritional practices of mothers and dietary adequacy and nutritional status of their children using 24-hour dietary recall and anthropometric measures.

Results: A total of 226 caregiver-child pairs were recruited for the study. The level of nutritional knowledge was average (61.5%) among caregivers/mothers. Most caregivers (92.3%) initiated breastfeeding within 1 hour of giving birth. A total of 66% of mothers practiced exclusive breastfeeding. Complementary feeding was initiated at 6 months in 83.6% of the cases. The prevalence of underweight, wasting, and stunting were 8.29%, 10.23%, and 16.74% respectively. There was no significant association between mother/caregiver's nutrition knowledge and child malnutrition status although the risk of wasting reduced with increasing nutritional knowledge of caregivers (p = 0.118).

Conclusion: There was no association between maternal nutrition knowledge and the nutritional status of children even though wasting showed a pattern of decrease with increasing nutritional knowledge. The prevalence of malnutrition in children in the study was comparatively lower than the national average. Underweight was statistically significantly higher in children whose mothers/caregivers were farmers hence appropriate nutrition education with a focus on infant and young child feeding practices should be promoted during antennal care and child welfare clinic services within these communities. Family planning services targeted particularly at teenage girls should be instituted to prevent teenage pregnancies as malnutrition is more likely to occur in children born to teenage mothers.