ABSTRACT

The transition from traditional diets to more refined foods and calorie dense snacks has led to the emergence prevalence of childhood obesity in developing countries. The study was designed to assess childhood obesity among school age children between 6 – 12 years old in Nsukka L.G.A in Enugu state. A total of 250 children were selected using simple random sampling. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit their personal and socio-economic characteristics of their parents, their dietary patterns and physical activity opportunities. World Health Organization (WHO) child growth standard charts and FANTA 2006 dietary diversity scale were used to categorize their anthropometric and dietary diversity indices, respectively. Results revealed that there were more males (58.4%) than female (41.6%) children. The mothers were mainly civil servants (70.8%) and traders/business (15.6%). The same was observed for the occupational status of the fathers (Civil servants – 70.0%, traders/business – 14.0%). Family income status revealed that most of the children household earned between N40,000 – N60,000 (64.4%) while some of them earned either between N19,000 – N39,000 (13.6%) or above 40,000 (19.6%). Also the children household comprised mostly of 1 – 3 (21.6%) or 4 – 6 (71.6%) persons. Pit toilet (30.0%) and water cistern (68.4%) were found to be the commonly utilized toilet facilities. Tap (19.6%) and borehole (76.8%) water were the major sources of drinking water. Meals were consumed three times by majority (90.0%) of the children. A little proportion (6%) of the children skipped breakfast (2.4%), lunch (5.2%) or dinner (2.0%). Snacks were consumed by virtually all (98.0%) of the students. Dietary diversity rating score revealed that almost all (97.6%) of the children had a high dietary diversity rating while a few of them had an average (1.6%) and low (0.8%) dietary diversity score. All (100%) of the children acknowledged that break time was given during school periods. Majority (74.0%) of the children noted that the break lasted for 30 minutes. Weight for age indices showed that majority (93.5%) of the children were normal, while a few of them were either wasted (3.7%) or overweight (2.8%). Wasting was observed only amongst the female children (8.3%). High dietary diversity scores ensuredietary adequacy which will in turn positively affect nutrition outcomes as low prevalence of obesity and other malnutrition indices were observed in this study.