Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CNRST), 03 BP 7192, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Malnutrition and particularly undernutrition and intestinal parasites represent a real public health issue in developing countries. In order to highlight the nutritional and parasitic status of the populations, a cross-sectional study was carried out in the rural commune of Niou. The objective of this study was to determine the different prevalences both in terms of nutritional and parasitic status. A total of 380 people took part in the study, of which 61.84% were women. Overall, 69.2% of the study population had a normal nutritional status, 24.2% suffered from malnutrition due to deficiency and 6.6% suffered from obesity or overweight. At least one in two people in our study population harbored a parasite in their digestive tract, an overall prevalence of 58.95. Among the subjects in a situation of nutritional deficiency, 61.95% were parasitized against 57.79% of parasitized in people with normal nutritional status and 56.0% in subjects in a situation of overweight or obesity. In total, 58.72% of women were carriers of parasites against 59.31% in men. Gender as well as sociodemographic situation are not determining factors for the occurrence of malnutrition and intestinal parasites. It is necessary in the fight against malnutrition and parasites in the population of Niou, to guarantee not only adequate food and hygiene but also to combine it with an effective treatment against intestinal parasites.