Publication: An investigation of relationship between nutrition and pre-school children’s participation in ECE in Riakanau zone, Mbeere South sub-county, Embu county, Kenya
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2014-11
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Mount Kenya University
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Abstract
Participation of preschool children in ECE has been poor and has been a concern to many education
stakeholders. Thus, the main objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between
nutrition and preschool children’s participation in ECE in Riakanau Zone in Mbeere South Sub-
county, Embu County. The literature was reviewed to establish the relationship between nutrition
and preschool enrollment, attendance, transition and completion rates and research gaps identified.
The study adopted qualitative and quantitative methods. The study applied concurrent
triangulation research design which enabled the researcher to use the quantitative and qualitative
methods during the same timeframe and with equal weight. Questionnaires, interviews and
observation checklists were used to collect data from preschool managers and teachers, parents’
representatives and preschool children respectively. Pilot survey was conducted twice amongst 1
preschool manager, 1 preschool teacher, 3 parents’ representatives and 15 preschool children to
establish validity and reliability as determined using test retest method. The reliability coefficient
was determined using Pearson’s Correlation Method. Riakanau Zone has 30 public preschools and
thus; the target population of this study was 30 preschool managers, 30 preschool teachers, 60
parents’ representatives and 1280 preschool children totaling to 1400. From these data, preschool
managers constituted 2.14%, preschool teachers 2.14% whereas parents’ representatives and
preschool children constituted 4.29% and 91.43% respectively of the target population. Using the
Central Limit Theorem, a sample of 9 preschools was selected, that is, 30% of the targeted 30
preschools. Based on the same theorem, the researcher sampled 300 respondents, that is, 21.43%
of 1400. The researcher applied stratified random sampling to create 5 different strata or sample
units each consisting of 6 preschools. From each stratum, at least 2 preschools were sampled using
simple random sampling. Purposive sampling was applied to identify at least 1 preschool manager
and 1 preschool teacher. Simple random sampling was applied to select 2 parents’ representatives
and 55 preschool children from each stratum. This sampling procedure enable the researcher to
realize a sample of 7 preschool managers, 7 preschool teachers, 13 parents’ representatives and
273 preschool children. The separately, but concurrently, collected data was analyzed inferentially
using quantitatively and qualitatively and then merged into one overall interpretation in which the
researcher related the quantitative results to the descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.
Frequency counts of the responses were obtained to generate information about the respondents
and to illustrate the general trend of findings on the various variables that were under investigation.
Quantitative data was analyzed using ANOVA in Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS
Version 21). The findings of the study were presented using percentages, tables and charts. The
study has established that nutrition is a key dynamic in enhancing preschool children’s
participation in ECE programmes and thus recommends that policies should be formulated to
enforce adherence to National Nutrition Action Plan of 2012 which advocates for preschool
nutrition as a tool for achieving children’s rights to basic education.