The role of nutrition in mental health and nutrition of teenagers

Abstract

Background: Malaria is a major public health concern in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world, affecting hundreds of millions of people. Nearly 3.2 billion people are at risk of malaria worldwide with a substantial risk among pregnant women and children under five years old. In the year 2020, nearly 241 million people were infected by Plasmodium species and half a million died due to malaria. Evidence suggested that more than 95% of malaria infectionsand deaths are concentrated in African countries. Similarly, more than 90% of malaria- related infections and deaths occur in sub-Saharan regions.

Objective: this study was aimed to describe mothers ‘knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding malaria in children under five years old in order to recommend strategies that would improve health seeking behavior of mothers in Deyniile district, Mogadishu, Somalia.

Methods: A cross sectional research design was chosen and quantitative methods of data collection were adopted in order to determine the factors associated with knowledge, attitude and practice on malaria prevention among mothers of under 5 years children in Daynile district, Mogadishu Somalia. The sample size of the study was 80 participants that included all mothers of under 5 year’s children at Deyniile district. To reduce bias, the researcher used simple random sampling for sample selection. After collecting and cleaning data, the data was statistical package for social scientist (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel. And lastly, the analysis using Chi-Square statistical test was performed to report on possible relationships between knowledge, attitude, and practice and demographics information. p value was set at <0.05 with a confidence interval of 95% CI.

Results: the respondents indicate that the majority of respondents were for the age of 25-34 years who were 26 (33%) of the study. Other hand, on the education qualification of respondents indicate that majority of the respondents were the college or university level who were 18(22.5%) of the respondents, primary level were 17(21.3), 16(20%) were no formal education, 15(18.8) were secondary level and finally postgraduate level were 14(17.5%) respondents. The results in the study show that the most of respondents are educated respondents so information was attained from highly informed people for the study.\

Conclusions: Mothers have a level of knowledge about malaria’s causes, signs and symptoms which may help them to seek treatment for their children. Additionally, majority of respondents demonstrated a positive practice towards malaria prevention such as seeking treatment at hospital within 24 hours.

Recommendations: Promote the practice and use of insecticide-treated bed nets, as well as develop targeted campaigns to highlight the benefits of mosquito bed nets in preventing malaria, emphasizing their proper use and maintenance to increase the likelihood of bed net usage among caregivers.