ABSTRACT

This study assessed the anthropometric indices, dietary patterns and prevalence of eating disorder among In-school adolescents in Ikwuano Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria. Cross sectional research was adopted for the study. Random sampling techniques was used to select 204 respondents from JSS 1- SS 3. Data was collected from the respondents with the use of a well structured questionnaires. Dietary information was collected using food frequency questionnaire. EAT-26 questionnaire were adapted from Garner and it was scored using a scale as Always, Usually, Often, Sometimes, Rarely and Never. BMI and waist- hip ratio were determined from anthropometric assessment. The data collected was analyzed using Statically Package Service Software (SPSS) version 23.0. The result of the analysis was presented in frequency and percentage, p-value (P<0.05) was statistically accepted. Findings from this study showed that more than half (64.7%) of the respondents eat between 3-4 meals per day and (25.4%) of the respondents skip lunch and replaced them with snacks. Food frequency consumption data shown that more than half (65.8%) of the respondents does not consumed enough fruits, vegetables (26%) and dairy products (59.1%) frequently. The findings also showed that almost half (47.3%) of the respondents were at risk of eating disorder and more than half (52.4%) of the female respondents were at risk of eating disorder than their male counterparts. The result also showed that less than half (49.3%) of the respondents had normal BMI while 15.6% and 6.2% were overweight and obese respectively whereas 28.9% remaining were underweight. The result showed that eating disorder was positively associated with BMI, but the association is not significant (p>0.05). The findings of the study showed that poor dietary habit and unhealthy food consumption were observed among the respondents. Therefore, this study is recommended to educationists, and health practitioners to increase nutrition awareness and information among adolescents as it will help to reduce health and nutritional related problems that are associated with poor feeding habits and eating disorder among adolescents.