Determinants of wasting among children aged 6-59 months in Palabek refugee settlement Lamwo district Uganda
| dc.contributor.author | Yumati, Alfred | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-01-27T13:16:28Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-01-27T13:16:28Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-11-21 | |
| dc.description | A research dissertation submitted to faculty of health sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of master of public health of Muni University | |
| dc.description.abstract | Background Millions of young children under-five years are in jeopardy due to wasting as it stands at 6.6% globally Feckan (2011) and 75% of these live in lower middle-income countries. WHO (2017). With East Africa at 5.2% Hossain et al., (2022) and Uganda at 2.6% UBOS (2023). Palabek refugee settlement has experienced a repeated surge in wasting more than 5% WHO threshold in the past three years notably 9.7% in 2021, 7.7% in 2022 and highest of all the refugee settlements at 13.9% in 2023(IPC 2023). Despite interventions determinants of wasting in Palabek is little known about and explored. These study aimed to identify determinants of child wasting and provide recommendations to inform policy and programing. Methodology A mixed method cross-sectional study design was used where data was collected, cleaned and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. A simple systematic random sampling strategy was used to select study households after obtaining list of households with children aged 6-59m from village health team (VHT) members. In the quantitative analysis, modified Poisson regression was used to get the explanatory variables which explained Wasting. In the qualitative method 5 FGD interviews were conducted to get the insights of the community about nutrition programs. Result Prevalence of wasting among children was 9.1% and associated factors such as late start of complementary feeding, healthcare access point >5 km, child’s age, more than two children under five years in single household were key in explaining wasting status of children, the community expressed challenges such as environmental shocks, economic shocks and negative cultural beliefs as determinants of wasting although perception on nutrition program is positive. Conclusion It is this combination of biological, behavioral, economic and geographic elements that risked children in a cycle of infection and undernutrition, shaping how severe wasting is endangering lives, these findings call for a comprehensive, integrated approach in response, inclusive of addressing cultural perceptions on child wasting while considering efforts to restore family livelihood, access to healthcare and community socio behaviour change communication strategies. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Yumati, A. (2025). Determinants of wasting among children aged 6-59 months in Palabek refugee settlement Lamwo district Uganda (Unpublished graduate dissertation). Muni University, Arua, Uganda | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://dir.muni.ac.ug/handle/20.500.12260/900 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Muni University | |
| dc.subject | Wasting among children | |
| dc.subject | Palabek refugee settlement | |
| dc.subject | Lamwo district | |
| dc.subject | Uganda | |
| dc.title | Determinants of wasting among children aged 6-59 months in Palabek refugee settlement Lamwo district Uganda |