Ngige, L.W.2014-01-072014-01-071995http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/8395This article examines the relationship between intra-household resource allocation, decision making patterns and pre-school children’s nutritional status in rural Thika, Kenya. The study utilized the family resource management perspective. A random sample of 283 respondents comprising of 92 fathers, 94 mothers and 97 children participated in the study. Data were collected by means of in-depth interviews with fathers and mothers, and anthropometric measurements of pre-school children aged 3 to 6 years. Results showed that 34.4% of the children were severely malnourished, 26.0% were classified as moderately malnourished, and 39.6% were categorized as well nourished. Maternal factors that had significant relationships with children’s nutritional status included mothers’ level of education (p=0.007), participation in decision making (p=0.029), and time use (p=0.008). Paternal factor that was significant included fathers’ occupations (p=0.003). Other significant factors were cooking facility (p=0.49), food variety (p=0.004), and food distribution at the household level (p=0.025). The paper concludes with implications for community resource management and nutrition intervention.enArticle