N’ZAMBI Pressy Dornelle Jessy^{1, 2}, ELENGA Michel^{3, 4,}, MANANGA Vital^{3, 5}, ITOUA OKOUANGO Yvon Simplice^{3, 5}

Acute malnutrition, the third leading cause of death in children under 5 years of age worldwide, remains a major health concern in the Republic of Congo. Considering this problem, mothers should necessarily be aware of prevention and treatment aspects. Therefore, this study aims to assess mother’s knowledge and practices regarding the prevention and management of acute childhood malnutrition. For this purpose, a questionnaire was used to collect data from direct interviews with 234 mothers. The results shows that 97.86% of mothers were at least 18 years old, 56.4% had a secondary education level, 65.81% had an income-generating activity, 56.41% were single, and 95.73% attended a health center. In addition, at least 80% of mothers know and practice food hygiene, 69% are aware of infant and young child feeding (IYCF), 64.1% know colostrum while 86% do not know the recommended time to give it and 50% know the duration of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF). Half of the mothers know the food square, 92.74% know the weaning age. 64% introduce complementary food as recommended. 79.48% are informed about child malnutrition, 64.95% have attended an education session while half recognize marasmus and 33.33% recognize kwashiorkor. 26% have already had a case of malnourished child of which 52% were detected by a community relay and 92% of them followed the treatment in a health center. Additionally, 214 mothers were unaware that diagnostic parameters include height, mid-upper arm circumference, weight and edema. In short, a nutrition education strategy is urgently needed for IYCF, breastfeeding practices and the introduction of complementary foods, knowledge of the forms of acute malnutrition and diagnostic methods of acute malnutrition.

Preventive skills, curative skills, acute malnutrition, mothers, children under five