ABSTRACT
This study was
carried out to assess dietary diversification of school lunch box of pre-school
children (2-5years) and their anthropometric status in Umuahia North, Abia
State. Questionnaires were administered to mothers and caregivers of 226
randomly selected pre-school children aged 2-5years, which includes
sociodemographic characteristics, food habits, dietary diversity and the
child's food lunch. Anthropometric status of the children was calculated using
WHO anthro. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as
frequencies and percentages, mean and correlation. The result showed that 51.8%
of the children were within the age of 2-3 years, some (34.9%) were 7 and above
in their household. Similarly, 54.4% and 49.6% oftheir fathers and mothers were
civil servants. Slightly above half (53.1%) ofthe children were within the age
of 3-4 years, majority (81%) had water closet. Some (43.8% and 37.2%) of the
respondents get their drinking water from bore hole and sachet water,
respectively. About 61.1%, 50.9%, 48.7% of the children eat main meal with the
family, eat the same meal with the family and sit down when having their meal,
respectively. Similarly, 44.2% and 54.4% of the children very often eat their
lunch food and carry their lunch food to school weekly, respectively. Majority
ofthe children’s usually consuming less than four food groups in a day. Meaning
that their parents had poor knowledge on diversity and the children were not
feed based on WHO recommendation. According to their anthropometric indicators,
majority ofthe children were normal while prevalence of stunting, underweight
and wasting was common among 25.7%, 9.3% and 3.1% of the children, majority
(92.5%) of the children consumed less than four food groups with low mean
dietary diversity of 0.43±0.13 which is below four. Similarly there was no
significant relationship between dietary diversity scores of the children and
their anthropometric indices such as height for age, weight for age and BMI for
age. In conclusion children were found to be stunted probably due to low level
of dietary diversification observed in this study. This could be due to
mother’s tight schedule as most of them were civil servant. This shows the need
for the parents these children to diversify the foods given to their children,
by including foods from animal source fruits and vegetable groups,
respectively.
IJEOMA, L (2024). Dietary Diversity Of School Lunch Box Of Preschool Children (2 - 5 Years) And Their Anthropometric Status In Umuahia North L.G.A Abia State:- Muonaka, Ijeoma L. Mouau.afribary.org: Retrieved Sep 08, 2024, from https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/dietary-diversity-of-school-lunch-box-of-preschool-children-2-5-years-and-their-anthropometric-status-in-umuahia-north-lga-abia-state-muonaka-ijeoma-l-7-2
LINDA, IJEOMA. "Dietary Diversity Of School Lunch Box Of Preschool Children (2 - 5 Years) And Their Anthropometric Status In Umuahia North L.G.A Abia State:- Muonaka, Ijeoma L" Mouau.afribary.org. Mouau.afribary.org, 08 Apr. 2024, https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/dietary-diversity-of-school-lunch-box-of-preschool-children-2-5-years-and-their-anthropometric-status-in-umuahia-north-lga-abia-state-muonaka-ijeoma-l-7-2. Accessed 08 Sep. 2024.
LINDA, IJEOMA. "Dietary Diversity Of School Lunch Box Of Preschool Children (2 - 5 Years) And Their Anthropometric Status In Umuahia North L.G.A Abia State:- Muonaka, Ijeoma L". Mouau.afribary.org, Mouau.afribary.org, 08 Apr. 2024. Web. 08 Sep. 2024. < https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/dietary-diversity-of-school-lunch-box-of-preschool-children-2-5-years-and-their-anthropometric-status-in-umuahia-north-lga-abia-state-muonaka-ijeoma-l-7-2 >.
LINDA, IJEOMA. "Dietary Diversity Of School Lunch Box Of Preschool Children (2 - 5 Years) And Their Anthropometric Status In Umuahia North L.G.A Abia State:- Muonaka, Ijeoma L" Mouau.afribary.org (2024). Accessed 08 Sep. 2024. https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/dietary-diversity-of-school-lunch-box-of-preschool-children-2-5-years-and-their-anthropometric-status-in-umuahia-north-lga-abia-state-muonaka-ijeoma-l-7-2