eng Science and Education Publishing Journal of Food and Nutrition Research 2333-1240 2026-01-21 14 1 26 37 10.12691/jfnr-14-1-4 JFNR20261414 article N¡¯ZAMBI Pressy Dornelle Jessy 1 2 3 ELENGA Michel 4 4 4 5 6 MANANGA Vital 6 6 6 7 ITOUA OKOUANGO Yvon Simplice 7 7 7 8 Laboratoire de Nutrition et d¡¯Alimentation Humaines BP: 69, Facult¨¦ des Sciences et Techniques, Universit¨¦ Marien NGOUABI, Brazzaville, Congo ¨¦quipe Pluridisciplinaire de Recherche en Alimentation et Nutrition (Eprancongo) 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. https://pubs.sciepub.com/jfnr/14/1/4/jfnr-14-1-4.pdf Preventive skills curative skills acute malnutrition mothers children under five