Exploring the Relationship Between Nutritional Knowledge of Parents and the Malnutrition Status of Children in Southern Philippines

Abstract

The nutritional status of any population is a vital factor in its development. Poor nutritional status or malnutrition has been one of the world’s most serious developmental problems and is especially prevalent among children. Parents play a crucial role in shaping the nutritional status of their children. However, there seems to be gaps in the knowledge of parents on how to prevent malnutrition, which has adverse effects on their children. The overall objective of this study was to determine whether there was a significant relationship between the nutritional knowledge of the respondents and the malnutrition status of the child participants residing in southern Philippines. The study employed a descriptive-correlational design utilizing both quantitative and qualitative approach in interpreting data. The first level of sampling method used was total enumeration.  A total of 178 malnourished children were identified using the records of municipalities in southern Philippines. Convenience sampling was used to narrow down the sample size to 123. The data was analyzed through frequency, percentage distribution, and chi-square correlation using manual computation and SPSS. The findings revealed that the household characteristics of the respondents in terms of nutritional knowledge on the causes of malnutrition and knowledge on the prevention have p-value of 0.001 and 0.009 respectively which are lesser than the alpha 0.05 level of significance. This means that there is a significant relationship between the nutritional knowledge of the respondents and the malnutrition status of the child respondents. Correlation analysis revealed that knowledge on the causes and prevention of malnutrition specifically were found to have a significant relationship with the malnutrition status of the children. The study concluded that the heightened rate on the malnutrition status of the children 0 to 71 months of old in southern Philippines need to be given immediate health intervention, which can be done through awareness raising among parents and guardians.

Keywords: Nutritional Status, Malnutrition, parents, children, Philippines