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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93578
KENYA: Culture, poverty fuelling malnutrition
MWINGI, 25 August 2011 (IRIN) – A mix of illiteracy, cultural practices, poverty and institutional challenges is compounding already high drought-related child malnutrition levels in parts of Kenya.
“Malnutrition is often not recognized as an illness,” Janet Ntwiga, a nutrition support officer, in Mwingi, lower-eastern Kenya, told IRIN.
“The family realizes it is serious when the baby is already emaciated and by then they are hiding the baby.”
The dearth of health outreaches to remote communities means correcting these misconceptions is a challenge, as IRIN found out after accompanying health officials on a nutrition assessment in Ngomeni, Mwingi.
Ngomeni recorded global acute malnutrition (GAM) rates above 30 percent (15 percent signals an emergency), according to a July Arid Lands Resource Management Project (ALRMP) bulletin.
In one household, one of the children under five was diagnosed as suffering from nutritional oedema, an indicator of severe acute malnutrition, which, if left untreated, can cause death.
“The family may think he [the child] is healthier than the rest of the children given his appearance,” noted a health official. Oedema is characterized by swelling.
“These are the kind of cases that are not getting captured at the health facilities, thus the need for outreach.”
In addition, local beliefs often prohibit taking children to hospital. Such children miss out on routine immunization among other health interventions, according to health officials.
In another household in Ngomeni, a mother of three explained her reluctance to go to the nearest health centre, 20km away, in the area of Nguni. The distance involved meant she could not take her children; without them, she would have no proof of their condition.
“Who will I say sent me when I go to the hospital?” she asked. The health official wrote a note, indicating the reason for the children’s referral, for the woman to take to the local health centre.
Missing out
Long distances to health centres and sparse health outreach services mean some undernourished populations are missing out on screening and treatment.
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