Nutritional Management of Childhood Diarrhoea in Korogocho Slum Nairobi County, Kenya

Background: Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death in children under five years old worldwide. Diarrhea is the third most common cause of mortality and morbidity in Kenya, with a case fatality of up to 21 percent causing approximately 9 percent of deaths in children less than five years of age. The primary focus of diarrheal disease control programs has been on improved case management through the promotion of oral rehydration therapy, while nutritional management has been relatively neglected. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine caregivers' knowledge on nutritional management of childhood diarrhea and assess nutritional status of the children. Methodology: This was a descriptive cross sectional survey that was carried out in Korogocho slum, Nairobi County. Semi structured interviewer administered questionnaires and focus group discussions were used to collect data. Cluster sampling was used where several steps were taken in selecting the sample. Participants of focus group discussion were selected through purposive sampling. A sample size of 354 caregivers was selected. Chi square was used to test for statistical associations. Results: Almost a third of the respondents (32.5%) had secondary education. Only 7.3% of caregivers had high level of knowledge on nutritional management of childhood diarrhea. Prevalence of diarrhea was 17.8%. Most of the caregivers (61.3%) gave less amount of solid food, however only 13.9% reduced amount of breast milk. Some caregivers had used food remedies such as sorghum or wheat porridge to manage diarrhea. Underweight, stunting and wasting levels among study children were 16.6%, 29.1% and 7.6% respectively. Discussions and Conclusions: The level of wasting was higher in children who had diarrhea two weeks preceding the survey (14.29%) compared to those who didn't have diarrhea (6.2%). The study demonstrated that caregivers' were not well informed on optimal feeding, zinc supplementation, and growth monitoring of children during diarrhea.