KNOWLEDGE LEVELS ON VITAMIN A AMONG THE CAREGIVERS OF CHILDREN AGED 12 TO 59 MONTHS IN GATUNGA WARD, THARAKA-NITHI COUNTY
KNOWLEDGE LEVELS ON VITAMIN A AMONG THE CAREGIVERS OF CHILDREN AGED 12 TO 59 MONTHS IN GATUNGA WARD, THARAKA-NITHI COUNTY
Nkingo Christine Kananu - Department of Nursing, The Presbyterian University of East Africa, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Knowledge levels on Vitamin A among care givers are critical in dietary interventions that support the achievement of nutrition priority outcomes. Lack of knowledge on levels on Vitamin A among care giver may lead to deficiency which causes depressed immune response, impaired movement of iron, poor growth, night blindness and xerophthalmia which are a major public health concerns. The study objective was to assess knowledge levels on Vitamin A among the caregivers of children aged 12 to 59 months in Gatunga ward, Tharaka-Nithi County. The target population were 370 caregivers of children aged 12 to 59 months who were clustered and sampled using purposive cluster and random sampling. A cross sectional descriptive study design was used to guide this study. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires and key informant interviews schedules from caregivers and key informants respectively. Quantitative data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 20 while qualitative data was organized and analysed thematically. The study established that the majority (62.9%) of the caregivers received information on Vitamin A from health workers. It was also revealed that husbands, friends and caregivers’ mothers, mass media (Radio) and religious leaders contributed minimal in providing information on Vitamin A accounting to less than 10%. It emerged that only 23.5% of the caregivers were conversant of the benefits of Vitamin A. However, the study found that though the caregivers had received Vitamin A information, majority (86.8%) had in adequate knowledge. The lack of adequate information on Vitamin A explains why just only 23.5% were conversant of the benefits of Vitamin A. It emerged from the study that the caregivers spend very little on buying food rich in Vitamin A in a month with majority spending KSh. 80. This expenditure is quite little to buy enough Vitamin A-rich foods. The tested hypothesis on the influence of Vitamin A knowledge of the uptake of vitamin using Chi square test returned p>.004). These results show that the knowledge on Vitamin A among the caregivers was not adequate to influence Vitamin A uptake in Gatunga Ward.
