Childhood Nutrition in Rural Uganda - A Global Health Commentary

Abstract

In the summer of 2012, UBC’s Global Health Initiative, ACCESS, travelled to Nakaseke district in Uganda.   We had  amazing experiences while there; however, we were surprised by the prevalence of  childhood malnutrition, especially among children in the hospitals.  Several factors appear to play a role in childhood nutrition in Nakaseke, in particular access to education and resources, cultural beliefs surrounding breastfeeding, and HIV infection in breastfeeding mothers.  Based on our experiences, we plan to further investigate the primary determinants of inappropriate childhood nutrition in the area, in hopes of creating a culturally appropriate childhood nutrition workshop to address this need.