Investigation of dietary practices of mother-child pairs in rural and urban settings in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study undertaken is a descriptive, quantitative, cross-sectional study. In line with the study's Aims, the research collected data on dietary practices and nutritional statuses of mothers and children aged 6-23 months. Dietary practices were determined using the 24-hour recall, which was used to determine the nutrient intakes of mothers and children and food group intakes to determine the minimum dietary diversity. Additionally, breastfeeding practices were determined using a structured questionnaire. The nutritional status was determined using anthropometric measurements including; weight, height or length for children and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC). Weight and height are used to determine the body mass index (BMI) for mothers and to compute Z-scores in line with the World Health Organization's growth charts for children. The data derived from these investigations provided information on the proportions of stunted, wasted and underweight children as well as underweight and overweight/obese mothers. Nutritional data sheds light on the average (mean) intakes and standard deviations of the essential nutrients necessary to sustain health during the COVID-19 pandemic