Factors affecting compliance of mothers/caregivers of malnourished children aged 6-59 months to an outpatient nutrition support programme in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

Malnutrition continues to be a major public health problem in Africa, yet the compliance to the IMAM, a treatment protocol that began in KwaZulu-Natal and viewed as a highly efficacious approach to treat malnutrition, is very low. The Dietetics outpatient department at a regional hospital in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, where the study was conducted, has about 375 children enrolled in the outpatient nutrition programme. The outpatient nutrition programme enables patients with stable Severe Acute Malnutrition and Moderate Acute Malnutrition to access nutritional supplements and to manage malnutrition outside the hospital. It is estimated that about 124 children between the age of 6 to 59 months default from the outpatient nutrition programme annually, accounting for a defaulter rate of 33%.