www.ijird.com April, 2014 Vol 3 Issue 4 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT Page 376 An Assessment of Malnutrition among Children in the New Juaben Municipality of Ghana: A Factor Analysis Approach 1. Introduction The provision of nourishment and administration of medication especially for children is vital to the development of a child’s life. Under-nutrition and improper administration of medication has very serious consequences on a child’s development. Children are economic assets to the world and their future health and development outcome is more likely to be influenced by their nutrition and health status (Birhan, 2010). In light of this fact, successive governments and numerous NGOs have over the years initiated various mitigating policies, programmes and other interventions but the results have always been on the low side. The World Food Programme (WFP) defines malnutrition as “a state in which the physical function of an individual is impaired to the point where he/she can no longer maintain adequate bodily performance process such as growth, pregnancy, location, physical work and resisting and recovering from the disease”. Although the word “malnutrition” is associated with both under-nutrition and over-nutrition (Smith and Haddad 2000), it is meant to refer to under nutrition in this paper. The prevalence of malnutrition is on the increase in mostly Sub-Saharan Africa which is as a result of insufficient intake of required vital body enhancing ingredients. According to the World Health Organization, the prevalence of malnutrition worldwide by 2015 will be 17.6 percent and a large number of malnourished populations will be from developing countries in Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (WHO 2012). Moreover, malnutrition is found to be the cause of illnesses and deaths affecting large populations of children worldwide (UNICEF 2005). According to Glewwe and Migue (2007), hundreds of millions of children in less developed countries suffer from poor health and nutrition. The WHO database on child growth and malnutrition (2008) further revealed that Ghana is among the developing countries with very high a prevalence rate of 26.80% in terms of child malnutrition. Although there have been past studies and surveys on child malnutrition in the country (GDHS 2008), most of these studies have been on national basis with broad objectives, leaving out some critical rural and peri-urban areas where malnutrition among children is most likely to be found. Moreover, the analysis have been mainly descriptive in nature and limited to the study of nutrition and health- related variables. It is against this background that this research paper seeks to employ factor analysis, a comprehensive statistical tool in classifying and analyzing the variables that determine the health and nutritional status of a child so that appropriate interventions can be planned to achieve growth and development. 2. Methods The study adopted a descriptive design employing only quantitative research techniques with the aim of summarizing and measuring large data using traditional statistical methods more comprehensively and conclusively. For the intends and purposes of this study, purposive sampling technique was used. This is because the research sought information from a targeted population (Mothers with children under 5 years) in the New Juaben Municipality. A total number of 150 mothers were sampled and interviewed for the study of which 56 of them had malnourished children. Primary source of data in the form of administered questionnaire which consisted of ISSN 2278 – 0211 (Online) Samuel Kwakye Sarkodie Bio-Statistician, Valley View University Hospital, Ghana Abstract: Malnutrition has gained deep roots in the African society. According to UNICEF (2009), for every 10 children in the rural setup in Africa, four are likely to fall in the region of malnutrition. This paper therefore assesses malnutrition among children in the New Juaben Municipality of Ghana using factor analysis statistical tool. Purposive sampling technique was used to collect information from 150 mothers of whom 37 percent of the respondents had children who suffer from malnutrition. The results revealed that two major factors determine a child’s nutritional status in the Municipality. Key words: Malnutrition, Child health, Factor Analysis