ABSTRACT

This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and practice of nutrient supplementation among women of reproductive age in Aba South L.G.A, Abia State. The study was cross-sectional and descriptive in design. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 422 women of reproductive age residing in the study area. A well-structured and validated questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-economic characteristics, nutrition knowledge and attitude and practice towards nutrient supplementation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) and correlation analysis. Significance was accepted at P<0.05. The result showed that 42.2% of the women were between 26-35 years, 54.5% were married, 34.1% were civil servants, 58.8% had secondary school certificate and 65.4% were 4-6 persons in their households. The nutritional knowledge result showed that 52.4% of the women had poor nutritional knowledge. The result further showed that 80.3% took dietary supplements, 79.9% do so daily and 78.2% took them for medical reasons and majority (62.3%)of the Supplements were prescribed by the pharmacist. Finally the result showed that nutrient supplementation had a significant (P<0.05) relationship with BMI and WHR The study concludes that dietary supplement consumption can positively affect the nutritional status of the women. The study therefore recommends that there is need for women to be armed with enough nutritional knowledge as this will aid them in making nutritional choices that will improve their health positively and also further studies should be carried out to ascertain the role of dietary supplements on the nutritional status of breastfeeding mothers and their children.