In this study, mothers of malnourished children less than 5 years had a low level of knowledge and a medium level of attitude and practice in regard to breastfeeding, complementary feeding, dietary practice and immunization. Education level and having a breadwinner at home are the 2 variables that correlated with attitude of the participants.
The level of mothers’ knowledge might be affected by the socioeconomic status of the individual including their education level, if there is a breadwinner at home and employment status [23]. According to this study, the highest percentages of mothers were high school level educated mothers and breadwinners at home were husbands, while 22% had no breadwinner at home. As reported in a study by Frost, Forste and Haas, socioeconomic status is the most important pathway linking maternal education and child nutritional status [24]. “A low level of maternal education and a lack of knowledge on good childcare practices means children do not receive optimal nutrition and care” [25].
In this study, mother’s attitude showed a medium level of attitude with a mean score of 54.17, SD = ± 4.78. Mother’s attitude showed the majority of them had neutral ideas or do not know that colostrum is best for the child and the best time to initiate breastfeeding is soon after birth. As recommended by the WHO, breastfeeding should be initiated 1 hour after birth and ensures that the infant receives the colostrum or “first milk” which is rich in protective factors [26].
Mothers should have a good basic perspective on cooking lessons, carried out in the community during child health care visits, so that they could gain proper approaches on how to make a healthy and balanced diet for their children. If mothers had neutral ideas about a balanced diet, then the food they provided to their children was not healthy, which then leads to malnutrition. Therefore, health talk by nurses or health professionals is needed at the community level, especially for mothers on healthy foods at home, or to run a workshop that they could attend and could motivate and change the way of thinking towards a balanced diet for their children.
To change people’s attitudes, persuasion is one of the most common types of communication. Its’ success depends on the source, the communicator and the message. In order to understand why people would attempt to understand, remember and accept persuasive messages, it is necessary to study the characteristics of the person presenting the message, the content of the message and the characteristics of the receiver of the message [27]. The three simple goals of risks communication such as sharing information, change beliefs and change behavior need to be applied to flow the communication well to the other person to be effective [28].
Mother’s attitude had 2 significant predictors: mother’s education level β = (2.3, p < .005) and having a breadwinner at home (β =-0.4, p < 0.05). This study showed that mothers who graduated from school were 2.3 times more likely to have increased attitude scores compared to mothers with no school. Mothers without a breadwinner at home were 0.4 times more likely to have decreased attitude scores compared to mothers which have a breadwinner at home.
Similarly, in another study by Abuya, Onsomu, Kimani and Moore, there was an association between mother’s attitude and maternal education. They explained that children born to mothers with only a primary education were 2.17 times more likely to be fully immunized compared to those whose mothers lacked any formal education (p < 0.001) [29]. A similar study was conducted by Molcho, Kelly & Gabhain, among 10,334 school children, enrolled from 215 schools in Ireland, found that positive perceptions towards school and local area increased the chance of reporting excellent health seen in both immigrant groups (p < 0001) [30]. Nutritional education of mothers shows a negative relationship with malnutrition of children specifying that the better the dietary health awareness of the mothers the lesser the child’s malnutrition [31].
Practice of mothers in this study showed a medium level of practice with a mean score of 9.83, SD = ± 2.21. Nutrition is crucial and a generally recognized factor in the child’s right to the enjoyment of the highest achievable standard of health, as stated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) [25]. Children have the right to adequate nutrition and access to safe and nutritious food, and both are essential for fulfilling their right to the highest attainable standard of health. Women, in turn, have the right to proper nutrition, to decide how to feed their children, and to full information and appropriate conditions that will enable them to carry out their decisions. These rights are not yet realized in many settings [32].
Mothers play a major role in their child’s lives and it is their responsibility to fulfill and give the best to their child, according to the CRC, not only in concern to their child but for themselves, as well as to have the full potential and capability to carry out their duties for their children in everyday lives.
According to Kimani-Murage et al., a mother’s ability to feed have been linked with maternal nutritional knowledge [33]. Therefore, caregivers such as mothers, should also be educated not only on the adequacy of food but also the way they prepare food including: a safe manner to minimize risk of contamination, giving appropriate ways that foods are the proper texture for the age of the child and applying responsive feeding.
According to the causal model of malnutrition adopted by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), was stated that the immediate cause of malnutrition are inadequate dietary intake and disease [34]. This study showed that inadequate dietary intake is the only immediate cause of malnutrition in their study setting, as disease was not included in this study. As stated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Kiribati, economic and environmental status is linked with malnutrition [11]. South Tarawa, where the survey was conducted among mothers of undernourished children, is a largely populated center and lived differently than people from outer islands. South Tarawa has the second highest poverty incidence of 17% of households [18]. In 2006 the basic poverty line was 22% and in 2010 was 66%. A typical household in South Tarawa has a big family, 1 or 2 members earning a salary, more likely to have health issues from poor water, sanitation and overcrowding and have limited access to land [15]. Thus these determinants of health have an impact on the current problem of malnutrition in Kiribati and hence need a more streamlined approach to tackle it strategically rather than opting for short-term solutions.
This is the first study conducted in Kiribati using a validated questionnaire. All mothers with malnourished children from different locations were included in this study. There are several limitations to this study. The small sample size was not representative of the population. This study was a cross sectional study so that the results of this study can’t be generalized to all population. Data was collected during working hours and was disrupted more with staff entering the room.