Factors affecting malnutrition among under five year's children in Punjab, Pakistan

Objective: To identify the associated factors affecting malnutrition among under five years children. Methodology: The study was conducted in rural areas of district Faisalabad. The data were collected from mothers with an in-depth interview. The thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: We found that inadequate nutritional knowledge, lack of food choices, low household income, wrong cultural feeding (breast feeding and complementary) practices, lack of health care facilities, immunization status, and seeking medical treatment for the children were the contributing factors of malnutrition among children. Conclusion: Malnutrition was highly affected by medical, maternal, and sociocultural reasons in the area. The government should devise policies to enhance awareness for health seeking behaviors for the child among the mothers.