Assessment of nutritional status of school children in Oyo West Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status of primary school children in Oyo West Local Government Area of Oyo State.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was among 499 primary school children. The study instrument was a pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data on weight, height and age of the school children were converted to nutritional indices (wasting, stunting and underweight) to determine their nutritional status. Cross-tabulation was done to compare the nutritional status of the school children on the basis of their socio-demographic characteristics.

Results: The results showed that the mean age of the school children was 8.54  ± 2.24 (range = 4 to 15) years Majority of the children came from monogamous families (65.9%) and lived with both parents (66.1%). Fathers and mothers of the children were largely artisan (57.7%) and traders (59.9%) respectively. Only 83.8% of the school children consumed breakfast on a daily basis. The prevalence of wasting, stunting and underweight among the school children was 4.0%, 14.6% and 9.8% respectively. Prevalence of wasting (4.7% versus 3.7%) and underweight (10.5% versus 9.5%) was marginally higher in polygamous than monogamous families respectively. Lower proportions of the school children were wasted (3.0%) stunted (12.7%) and underweight (8.5%) when they lived with both parents compared with other living arrangements.

Conclusion: The study concluded that malnutrition exists among school children in the study area and that school children not living with their parents had poor nutritional status.

Keywords: Nutritional status, school children, demographic characteristics, breakfast