Feeding behaviour and the monitoring of the nutritional status of malnourished children in two rural communes in the Region of Sikasso in Mali

Abstract

Sikasso, in spite of its strong cereal and animal production, remains one of the areas of Mali the most touched by the malnutrition which constitutes a problem of public health. This paradox, was at the base of our study of which the goal aimed at evaluating the food practices and the nutritional follow-up of the children malnutris 6-59 month in the rural communes of Klela and Fama in the Circle of Sikasso. An exhaustive exhaustive study near all children 6 to 59 months of the two communes whose 1248 detected children malnutris had been followed every month for 6 January at June 2011. The prévalence of the emaciation was 14,5% with a prevalence in the children from 6 to 23 month with 9,5%. Close to a child on two (48,5%) a delay of growth presented was 37% with a ponderal insufficiency against. The basic food in the children malnutris primarily consisted of cereals (24%). C ertains produced local like the tubers, the fruits and vegetables were consumed on the other hand little. The nutritional indicators of the children from 06 to 59 months of the surveyed villages thus remained alarming, in spite of the noted improvements these last years. In conclusion, our study showed that the strategies and actions for the follow-up and the improvement of the nutritional state of the children should include the contributions of the whole of the disciplines or sectors associated (nutritional safety, agriculture, health for the nutrition, crop…). It formulated for this purpose of the recommendations which will make it possible to the various actors (State, local authorities, engineering departments decentralized, research, ONG, trade associations, mediae…) to intervene effectively against malnutrition in the area of Sikasso, in particular.