Factors Associated with Diet Quality of Mothers and Birth Weight of Infants at Lodwar Referral Hospital in Turkana County, Kenya

Abstract

Maternal factors have been shown to affect maternal outcomes over the years. Low birth weight and preterm birth have been linked to maternal dietary intake during gestation. The prevalence of low birth weight at Lodwar Referral Hospital is 14%. The main objective was to determine the factors associated with maternal diet quality and infants' birth weight in Turkana County. The study used a longitudinal design to collect data from 2023 to 2024 at Lodwar Referral Hospital among mothers aged 18 years and above. The researcher recruited 540 mothers, of whom 500 completed enrollments using a systematic random technique. After pregnancies, 38 defaulted from follow-up, and 2 had stillbirths, resulting in an overall response rate of 93% among mothers. Data were collected using pretested structured questionnaires. SPSS version 29 was used for analysis. A log-binomial model was used to estimate the adjusted risk ratio and its 95% CI for the risk factors for low birth weight. Multi-collinearity was assessed using the variance inflation factor (VIF) with a cut-off of 8; no multicollinearity was found. The overall incidence of low birth weight was 14% (95% CI: 11.1, 17.4%). The difference in low-birth-weight incidence was statistically significant (p-value = 0.006). The risk factors for low birth weight were maternal illiteracy (ARR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.01, 3.3) and low monthly family income <5000 Ksh. (ARR:1.6,95%CI:1.07,2.2), food taboos during pregnancy (ARR:0.47,95%CI:0.28,0.78), and diet meal number<5 (ARR:1.9,95%CI:1.05,2.61). The prevalence of low birth weight was 14% (70). Low birth weight significantly affected children of mothers with poor diet quality, illiteracy, and poverty. The study recommended that MOH nutritionists promote knowledge of recommended diet quality and exclusive breastfeeding among pregnant mothers. Further research should be conducted to determine the cause of the high prevalence of low-birth-weight cases at Lodwar hospital.