ASSESSING MOTHER-RELATED FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF CHILDREN (0-6 YEARS) IN JAMES TOWN IN THE ACCRA METROPOLIS

ABSTRACT © University of Cape Coast https://erl.ucc.edu.gh Digitized by Sam Jonah Library 3 The utilisation of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 as a measure to reduce child mortality rate to two-thirds by 2015 continues to be a major concern to stakeholders including the Government of Ghana. In Ghana, several intervention programmes have been employed mostly by Government through the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service. Stakeholders believe that nutrition of children is a key component in this effort. In the pursuance of this goal, the nutritional knowledge of mothers as well as the status of their children becomes prominent. For this reason, this study evolved to identify the mother-related factors that influenced the nutritional status of children (0-6 years). It involved residents of James Town, under the administration of Accra Metropolitan Assembly of the Greater Accra Region. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was adopted and 172 mothers selected through the use of the simple random sampling technique. These mothers whose children were between 0-6 years responded to questionnaires. Data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistical tools including frequencies, percentages, and the Chi-square test. The results showed demographic and socio-cultural factors as significant determinants of mothers’ nutritional knowledge, which in turn, has a significant influence on the nutritional status of their children. It was also found that there was a significant association between mothers’ nutritional knowledge and children nutritional status. It is therefore recommended that in order to achieve the MDG 4, improved maternal nutritional literacy and good child nutrition should be stressed by all stakeholders.