DETERMINANTS OF NUTRITION STATUS AMONG CHILDREN IN THE EASTERN REGIONOF GHANA

A cross-sectional survey of children's weights was included in a popul ation study which was designed to identify and measure the determinant s of immunization status of 12-18-month-old children of 294 mothers in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Birth weight, among a subgroup of 91 chi ldren where this information was available from the mothers' Road To H ealth cards, was the variable with which current weight-for-age Z scor es was most strongly associated (r = 0.38). Associations of current we ight-for-age with certain socio-economic variables, at or close to sta tistically significant levels, corresponded with similar or stronger a ssociations of birth weight with these same socio-economic variables. Cross-sectional studies of young children, to identify associations an d possible determinants of nutrition status, are more informative wher e there is a high Road To Health card coverage and where birth weights have been recorded on these cards.