Impact of Soybean Utilization Project on Nutritional Status of under Five Children

Veronica Obatolu

A quasi-experimental methodology comprising of repeated cross-sectional survey of 1420 preschool children was conducted to collect information on demographic characteristics, dietary intake and anthropometric data of children within beneficiary area and comparable control area before and after the project. There was no significant difference in the demographic characteristic of children before and after the project in both the study and control area. The average, energy, protein, and magnesium intake is about 65, 44, and 75% respectively of FAO/WHO (2001) reference nutrient intake (RNI) for the children in BA before the project and the children in CCA before and after the project. A significant increase in percentage of RNI was observed for BA children after the project. The proportion of the study children below median - 3 SD (Z-score) was high for all nutritional indicators for both groups before the utilization project. After the project, acute rather than chronic malnutrition as observed before the project was observed among the BA children while the CCA children still shows incidences of chronic malnutrition. A reduction of 68.5%, 78.5% and 65.8% respectively was observed in prevalence of malnutrition for the weight-for-age, height for age and weight for height indicators among the BA children after the project. The findings of the present study revealed positive effect of soybean utilization in alleviating prevalence of under nutrition among pre-school and highlight a need for an integration of micronutrient intake in any nutritional program aimed at improving nutritional status.