Attachments
Context
Factors determining child nutritional status are widely understood and are reflected in different contexts globally, including age-appropriate feeding practices, financial status, food security, access to health care and household size’. Targeted interventions such as cash transfer programmes, health promotion around nutrition, or improving access to family planning have been shown to create opportunities to improve child nutrition, as well as to improve understanding of the role of gender dynamics in shaping nutritional outcomes. However, these initiatives are often implemented in silos, without considering the multi-sectoral linkages between them, thus limiting their overall impact’.
In Tanganyika province, large disparities in the nutritional status of children exist between health zones. For example, in the territories of Manono and Kalemie, the prevalence of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children under five is 3.1% and 2.8% respectively - above the emergency threshold of 2%*, whilst in the territory of Kabalo, the prevalence is 1.1%°. Since 2021, in collaboration with UNICEF's Gender and Nutrition sections, and in support of the Division Provinciale de la Santé (DPS) in Tanganyika, the Integrated Analytics Cell (CAI) has conducted operational research to explore the underlying factors contributing to these high rates of malnutrition in Kabalo and Manono health zones in Tanganyika, and to provide a holistic analysis of gender dynamics, socio-behavioural and environmental context.
Key points highlighted
The nutritional status of children is influenced by many interacting multidimensional factors, involving stakeholders from the health, nutrition, gender, WASH, education, protection and emergency sectors. The key elements highlighted in this report (2 of 4):
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Better maternal education reduces the risk of malnutrition in children (page 4) (including improved feeding practices (page 5)).
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Women have less access to paid work and are burdened with household chores which has a negative impact on their ability to support the household and care for children (page 6).
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Shared responsibility and trust between men and women can improve the socio-economic status of the household and the nutritional status of children (page 7).
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Adolescent pregnancy and early marriage can increase the risk of malnutrition in children and young mothers (page 7).
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Access to contraception can help families manage household size, have a positive impact on socio-economic status and reduce the risk of malnutrition in children (page 8).
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Access to and use of antenatal services and maternity care by pregnant women can reduce the risk of malnutrition in children (page 9).