Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child malnutrition in Selangor, Malaysia: A pilot study

Azizur Rahman; Nezza Othman; Md Abdul Kuddus; Md Zobaer Hasan

doi:10.1016/j.jiph.2024.02.019

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child malnutrition in Selangor, Malaysia: A pilot study

J Infect Public Health. 2024 May;17(5):833-842. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2024.02.019. Epub 2024 Mar 5.

Authors

Azizur Rahman¹, Nezza Othman², Md Abdul Kuddus³, Md Zobaer Hasan⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia. Electronic address: azrahman@csu.edu.au.
² School of Science, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, Selangor D.E., Malaysia.
³ School of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia; Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia; Department of Mathematics, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi 6205, Bangladesh.
⁴ School of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia; School of Science, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, Selangor D.E., Malaysia.

PMID: 38547630
DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2024.02.019

Abstract

Background: Child malnutrition risk factors are globally recognized, but the specific impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence of child malnutrition, considering socioeconomic burdens and changes in family lifestyles, remains underexplored. This study aims to identify the significance of COVID-19-related factors in relation to the prevalence of child malnutrition in Selangor, Malaysia.

Methods: Purposive sampling was employed in this pilot study to select the households with under-5 children and, a structured questionnaire was developed to gather data. Chi-squared tests, logistic regression modelling and World Health Organisation AnthroPlus software-based visualization were used for analyses.

Results: The present study's findings indicate that demographic and social factors, including 'Citizenship,' 'Type of House,' 'Number of Earning Members,' 'Father's Highest Educational Level,' and 'Number of Children in a Family,' have a statistically significant association with Wasting. Additionally, the mother's 'Highest Educational Level' is found to be linked to underweight prevalence. Within COVID-19 factors, "COVID-19 Impact on Employment/Business" demonstrated significance for both stunting and wasting. Multivariate analysis revealed disparities in childhood malnutrition by gender, age, and factors such as "COVID-19 impact on children's physical activity" and "COVID-19 impact on children's decrease in health over the last two weeks."

Conclusions: This study identified COVID-19 factors alongside sociodemographic variables with statistically significant relationships impacting childhood malnutrition in Selangor, Malaysia. The results underscored the substantial influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on child malnutrition prevalence. Decision-makers at family and community levels can benefit by considering these factors in their actions. However, the study's limitation lay in its dataset, urging larger-scale analyses to explore further sub-categories of the examined variables.

Keywords: COVID-19 risk factors; Family lifestyle; Malnutrition determinants; Paediatric nutrition; Socioeconomic impact.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / complications
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Child
Child Nutrition Disorders* / epidemiology
Child Nutrition Disorders* / etiology
Humans
Infant
Malaysia / epidemiology
Malnutrition* / complications
Malnutrition* / epidemiology
Pandemics
Pilot Projects
Prevalence
Risk Factors
Socioeconomic Factors