1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background to the study
Child nutrition plays a key role in infant and child health or death. Young children, pregnant women and lactating mothers are nutritionally the most vulnerable group, especially in the developing countries of the world, and yet relatively little is done to achieve their special nutritional needs. (Oyira, Abua, Mgbekem & Okon, 2010).
The importance of nutrition in childhood for both immediate health and health in later life is a topic that has aroused a considerable interest and argument over the past 15 - 20 years.
The depth of interest and the data t hat arouse the interest are new but the concept that the way a child is fed has a long-term effect or consequences are not new. In developed countries and many traditional societies today, early feeding has been considered a determinant of later character as much as later growth and health. Correct nutrition ensures healthier children, who grow into more productive adults while Poor nutrition on the other hand leads to malnutrition.
Malnutrition continues to be a significant public health and development concern around the world with about one-third of the world's children malnourished and an estimated 150 to 200 million pre-school children (Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking inadequate diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess, or in the wrong proportions (Sullivan & Sheffrin, 2010).
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