ABSTRACT

Meal skipping has been one of the most salient habits among Nigerian students that has been neglected for some time and this have had a tremendous effect on the academic and wellbeing of the students. The objective of this study was to assess meal skipping pattern among the undergraduate students of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. A cross-sectional design was used to conduct the study, with the target population comprising of 35000 selected at random from each level that is studying various courses in the University. The Yamane’s formular was used to derived a sample size (n) of 395. A simple structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents base on their socio demographic information and their dietary pattern and habits. The data obtained was analysed with SPSS 23. The results of the socio-demographic information of the respondents was tabulated in frequencies and percentage, while the meal pattern and dietary habits was analysed in mean and standard deviation with 2.50 as the criterion mean. From the result obtained, which indicated a mean rating of 2.478 which is approximately 2.5 shows that meal skipping is growing trend among the undergraduate in the study area. The mean rating of 2.9 showed that the early morning lectures is the main cause of meal skipping. And the mean rating of 2.7 which is above the 2.5 showed that meal skipping cause unhealthy balance diet, lack of concentration in the classroom and obesity. The study concluded that early morning lectures hinders the students of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike from eating their breakfast and also the lack of appetite in the early hours. it is recommended that undergraduate students should always be mindful of their health, nutrition intake, dietary habits so as to curb the effect of malnutrition that in most cases affects the academic performance of the students.