ABSTRACT

 Ultra-processed foods are industrial formulations made mostly or entirely from substances derived from foods and additives, with little, if any, intact food. This study assessed the consumption of ultra-processed foods, dietary pattern and anthropometric status of children (6-12) years in Osisioma Local Government Area of Abia State. Cross sectional research design was adopted for the study. 317 children aged 6-12 years was randomly selected from the household used for the study. Data was collected from the respondents with the use of a well-structured and validated questionnaire and it was analyzed with the use of statistical package service software (SPSS) version 20.0. The result obtained was presented in frequency and percentage. Result of the finding shows that 62.8% of the respondents were male, all (100.0%) of the respondents were Christian which is due to the study area and more than half (7 1.0%) were Igbo. The result also indicated that more than half (60.3%) of the respondents were in primary 1-3 and not too many (39.7%) were in primary 4-6. The result showed that just few (18.9%) of the respondents were of family size 1-3 persons and very many (62.5%) were 4-6 persons. The result also showed that more than half (57.4%) of the respondents parents were trader while 39.4% were civil servants. The result also showed that majority (80.4%) of the respondents' parents cooked with gas, 4.1% cooked with lirewood, while 14.2% cooked with kerosene and only 1.3% cooked with charcoal. More than half (53.6%) of the respondents had a tertiary education. Majority (87.0%) of the respondents consumed foods prepared from their parents and aunt. Furthermore, more than half (78.2%) of the respondents consumed food three times in a day, while only 7.9% consumed food two times in a day. The result showed that more than half (78.9%) of the respondents do not skip meals, while minority (2 1.1%) skipped meals. About 65.3% of the respondents' skipped breakfast, while 14.8% skipped dinner and 8.5% skipped both breakfast and lunch. Majority (95.0%) of the respondents consumed soft drinks and just 5.0% do not consume soft drinks. About 45.1% of the respondents consume instant noodles 2-3 three times a week, while 36.9% consumed it once a week and only 18.0% consumed it daily. The result showed that 41 . 1% of the respondent consumed doughnut 2-3 three times a week and 47.3 consumed it once a week, also 5.7% of the respondents consume pizza 2-3 three times a week and 3.5% consumed it once a week. The result also showed that 8.5% of the respondents consumed wine 2-3 three times a week, while only 1 .3% consumed it daily. The anthropornetric status of the respondents showed that 65.9% of the respondents were normal while, 25.2%% were underweight and 8.8% were overweight and obese respectively. The result of this findings showed a good nutritional status of the respondents which could be attributed to the parental educational level and effective utilization of foods within the households.