Nutritional Status of Primary School Children in Kawo District of Kaduna Metropolis, Nigeria

Aims: This study was designed to assess the nutritional status of school children aged 5-12 years in Kawo District, Kaduna State, Nigeria in relation to gender and school background.
Study Design: One hundred and forty one (141) school children were randomly selected from two public and two private schools. Anthropometric indices of weight-for-age (WA) and height-for-age (HA) were used to estimate the children’s nutritional status.
Place and Duration of Study: Kawo district Kaduna state North central Nigeria, between October 2009 and December 2009.
Methodology: Using a structured questionnaire, anthropometric parameters of sex, age, weight, height and class were obtained on the children randomly selected from two public and private schools, respectively. Data were subjected to descriptive statistics using sample size and frequency, while nutritional and growth status were determined using z-scores for weight for age (WA) and height for age (HA). The prevalence of wasting and stunting were determined using the WHO new reference values for school boys and girls.
Results: Sex distribution of children studied was 51.8% male and 48.2% female, while severe underweight and stunting occurred in 35% and 26.4% of the children respectively. Significant difference (p<0.05) was not observed between severely underweight or stunted boys and girls, while normal WAZ and HAZ occurred in 20% and 17.1% of the children, respectively. About 5% and 12.9% of the severely underweight and stunted children were respectively from private schools, while 30.7% and 13.6% were from public schools. Severe stunting was found to progress with age as 8.5% of severe stunting was observed in children 5 – 8 years, while 17.9% was observed in the 9 – 12 years age bracket. Severe under-weight was however found to be higher in children 5 – 8 years (20.7%) compared to children 9 – 12years (15.0%).
Conclusion: Based on WHO classifications and the low values for anthropometry obtained from this study, there is high prevalence of underweight and stunting in Kawo district of Kaduna state, Nigeria, suggesting a need for improvement in the nutritional status of these and other children in similar circumstances in many parts of Kaduna State and the country through sustainable public health strategies.