ABSTRACT

This study compared the nutritional status of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of school feeding programme in public primary schools in Akwa Ibom State. A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used for the study and a population of 818,588 public primary school pupils. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 400 school children between 3-11 years who were enrolled in ECE (Early child Education) to primary three (3). Eighteen (18) public primary schools were selected from the 3 senatorial districts in the state of which 12 schools adopted school feeding programme (SFP) and 6 did not. Anthropometric measurement of weight and height were taken and nutritional status was assessed using height-for-age, weight-for-age, height-for-weight and BMI-for-age parameters. SPSS version 20.0 was used for data entry and analysis. WHO anthro plus software was used to assess the nutritional status of pupils and the result was interpreted using Z-score (WHO Standard). The result revealed that more than half (58.3%) of the pupils were females while 41.7% were males. Not all the public primary schools in Akwa Ibom state adopted the feeding programme. Majority (60.6%) of the schools adopting the programme reported meal serving time to be between 10-11 am. Foods from the cereal group were served 4 times weekly and foods from root/tuber group, legumes were served once a week respectively, while meat/ fish/poultry groups were served thrice in a week. It was also observed that fruits and vegetable group as well as snacks/beverages were not included in the children’s meal. The result showed that while all the benefiting children from the school feeding program had a normal weight-for-age status, underweight (3.5%) and severe underweight (1.5%) were observed among children not benefiting from the feeding program. The prevalence of stunting (10%) and severe stunting (3.5%) observed among the non-beneficiaries of the feeding program were higher than stunting (5.5%) and severe stunting (0.5%) observed among children benefiting from the school feeding program. The prevalence of wasting and severe wasting (4%) respectively observed among the non-beneficiaries of the feeding program were higher than 2% obtained for wasting among beneficiaries as none of the beneficiaries were severely wasted. The prevalence of overweight (9%) observed among benefiting children was higher than 6.5% observed among non-beneficiaries while obesity (0.5%) for both categories was observed. The weight-for-age (X² =13.437^a, P=0.00), height-for-age (X² = 7.736^a, P= 0.02) and BMI-for-age (X² = 10.281^a, P= 0.04) status of the children benefiting from school feeding program and those that do not benefit were significantly different. In conclusion, school feeding programme has the potential to directly address malnutrition if it is effectively managed. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that Government should ensure regular monitoring and evaluation of the program to ensure that adequate and nutritious meals are served.