ABSTRACT

Family support resources are programs set-up by government or other stakeholders so as to help families or individual with limited resources. In Nigeria, such support resources have taken different shapes since independence however little study have been carried out to ascertain their effect on nutrition and health status of the beneficiaries especially women. The study evaluated family support resources and nutritional status of women in Njikoka Local Government area of Anambra state using cross-sectional survey design. The study population comprised of 355 women from the study location, which were randomly selected. The study used a structured questionnaire to collect data on Demographic and socio-economic status, feeding habitand family support resources present in the area. Nutritional status was determined using anthropometric indices such as weight, height, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-hip-ratio (WHR). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study found that more than half (54.1%) of the women were single, majority (88.2%) were Christians, most (42.3%) live alone, there primary occupation were civil service (33.0%) and trading (30.1%), there highest educational level was tertiary education (57.2%) and their monthly income were from N21,000 and above (33.2%). The study further revealed that most (66.8%) received support from relatives. The most benefited government support program was the Npower program (58.6%) and the NDE empowerment program (27.6%). On feeding habits, majority (62.8%) skipped meals while majority (80.0%) consumed snacks, majority (42.5%) eat three times daily and most (33.8%) consume fruits only 2 times daily. The result on nutritional status showed that 23.6% of the women were overweight and 9.5% were obese, while 66.2% were at the risk of overweight and obesity. The result showed that income was significantly related to BMI while traditional ruler support was negatively related to waist-hip-ratio (WHR) and waist circumference (WC). The study recommends that government should ensure that the available family support resources/programmes are adequately implemented to ensure that they get to the women and households that need them.