Health, Feeding Pattern and Anthropometric Status of Preschool Children (2-5 Years) in Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria

¹Department of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, Rivers State University Nkpolu- Oroworukwo, Nigeria

²Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Nigeria

*Corresponding author: Dr. Ada Daisy Oguizu, Department of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, Rivers State University Nkpolu- Oroworukwo, P.M.B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, Phone: +2348038132055, E-mail: [email protected]

Received Date: April 01, 2024

Publication Date: April 13, 2024

Citation: Oguizu AD, et al. (2024). Health, Feeding Pattern and Anthropometric Status of Preschool Children (2-5 Years) in Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria. Nutraceutical Res. 3(1):6.

Copyright: Oguizu AD, et al. © (2024).

ABSTRACT

The study design was a cross sectional survey aimed at determining the health profile, feeding pattern and anthropometric status of preschool children (2-5 years) in Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 228 preschool children for the survey of which males were 117 and females 111. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on the socio-demographic and economic characteristics of parents, the physical health profile and household feeding pattern of the studied children. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 22. Pearson’s correlation was used to establish the association between health status and anthropometric status. Significance was accepted at P-value < 0.05. Anthropometric measurements (weights and heights) were used to obtain the height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height which were calculated using WHO Anthro. The results reveals that 2.2% of the children were wasted, 16.7% stunted and 3.5% were underweight. The study showed that the children met their minimum meal frequency (MMF) of three or four meal times per day with one or two snacks as desired, and their minimum dietary diversity (MDD) of consumption of at least four food groups among seven food groups per day. Factors which were significantly associated (P<0.05) with health and anthropometric status of the preschool children studied showed that weight-for-height (WHZ) z-scores correlates positively with incidence of malaria (r=.198, p=0.003) and child’s deworming frequency (r=.180, p=0.007), while diarrhoea correlates negatively with height-for-age (HAZ) z-scores (r=-.229, p=0.000). It is recommended that a community based Nutrition education is needed for all mothers so as to keep them informed on the importance of timely deworming of children and to teach them appropriate feeding practices for children to ensure adequate nutrition for the children and other members of the family.

Keywords: Health, Feeding Pattern, Abia State, Anthropometric Status, Preschool Children.