Prevalence and Pattern of the Nutritional Status of Adolescents Attending Public Secondary Schools in Gokana, A Rural Community in Rivers State, Nigeria

Aims: To evaluate the prevalence and pattern of malnutrition among adolescents in public secondary schools in a rural community.

Study Design: A school based cross-sectional descriptive study.

Place and Duration of Study: Public secondary schools in Gokana Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria between August and October, 2016.

Methodology: A total of 300 adolescents between 10 and 18 years were recruited from students attending public secondary schools in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State using a two staged simple random sampling technique. Information from respondents was obtained using a pretested semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire. The respondents’ weights and heights were measured and used to calculate their body mass index (BMI). BMI was used to classify them into stunted, underweight, normal and overweight/obese adolescents using the 2007 World Health Organisation’s reference population. Data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.

Results: The prevalence of stunting, underweight and overweight/obesity in this study were 14.3%, 15.6% and 0.0% respectively. Male and older adolescents were more likely to be underweight and stunted compared to female and younger adolescents.

Conclusion: Acute and chronic under-nutrition is still a major problem among adolescents in rural communities in Rivers State unlike overweight / obesity. Our findings have implications for intensified nutrition programmes generally and specifically for adolescents at all levels of government.