Factors Associated With Child Health Status: A Study of Farm Families in Sabak Bernam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
The health status of 498 children, aged 60 months and under from five villages which were stratified and randomly selected from a total of 72 in the district of Sabak Bernam was determined by birthweight, anthropometry (weight for age, height for age and weight for height) and morbidity. The main...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
1995
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/8202/1/FEM_1995_2_A.pdf |
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| Summary: | The health status of 498 children, aged 60 months and under from five villages
which were stratified and randomly selected from a total of 72 in the district of Sabak
Bernam was determined by birthweight, anthropometry (weight for age, height for age
and weight for height) and morbidity. The main objectives of the study were to
determine the health status of the children and to examine the extent to which
socioeconomics, maternal factors, degree of adherence to cultural practices, feeding
and illness control practices contributed to variances in health status. The study
showed that the children were born with birthweights higher than the national average
and they continued to develop well in their first six months after which their growth
performances tended to falter. Average weight and height of these children were found
to be higher than those of the Malay children of poverty villages of 1984 but lower
than that of the Malay urban high income children of 1971. Generally the children had
higher average height than weight achievements (compared to NCHS median).
ANOVA applied to average growth performance in NCHS centile achievements showed that the infants had significantly higher growth achievements than the toddlers
and preschoolers.
Multiple regression analysis (significance level set at p=<0.1) found that in
general, socioeconomics could explain variances in birthweight and morbidity better
than anthropometry. Irrespective of age group, socioeconomics did contribute
significantly to some variance in health status of the children. Maternal factors, like
socioeconomics, also accounted for some of the variances in health status but its
greatest contribution was to birthweight as well as to the growth performance of the
infants and toddlers. There was a certain amount of pragmatic acculturation which had
taken place among the families so that only during the pregnancy, birth and in child
care of less than half of the children did their mothers adhere to some cultural
practices. During confinement, adherence to cultural practices was highest. and food
observances in accordance to the naturalistic theory of disease causation was practised
by an mothers. Meanwhile adherence to culture was not found to have contributed. at
the level of significance set for the study, to variances in growth performance but only
to some extent in morbidity. The other two groups of factors, i.e. feeding practices
and illness control did not contribute to variances in health status of infants, but by the
time the child reached the toddler stage the effects of these two groups of factors on
health status began to be felt and it continued into the preschooling stage.
Thus from this study it would seem necessary for the Ministry of Health to give
priority to toddlers and preschoolers so that the high level of health attained at birth
can be maintained. This it can do by giving emphasis to educating families on proper
weaning diets as well as ensuring that children are immunised as scheduled. A call is made for the Ministry of Health to work closely with other related extension agencies
so that knowledge which will lead to higher status of health of infants, toddlers and
preschoolers can be more effectively imparted to a wider range of rural families. |
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