Evaluation of the nutritional status of first year school children in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

Height for age, weight for age, and weight for height as indices of nutritional status were evaluated in 1309 pupils from different socioeconomic classes in Ibadan, Nigeria. The data obtained were compared with United States National Centre for Health Statistics (NCHS) reference population. When all the pupils studies were considered together 46.1%, 44.3% and 12.7 percent of the pupils were underweight, stunted and wasted, respectively. Both stunting and wasting were observed in 7.2% of the overall population. Only 0.6% were overweight. Generally, the proportion of stunting, underweight, wasting and both stunting and wasting increased as socioeconomic status declined, but the prevalence of overweight was higher in the 2 upper socioeconomic status schools. When all pupils were considered based on sex and irrespective of school types, significantly more male (49.5%) than female (37.4%) pupils suffered from stunting (P < 0.0001), wasting (13.8% versus 11.1% P < 0.01) and underweight (54.3% versus 35.5%: P < 0.0001). More females were overweight than males though this did not reach statistical levels (P > 0.05.) The prevalence of malnutrition in this study was higher that of previous studies in this environment, which may be a reflection of the deteriorating economic situation of Nigeria.