2Department of Human Nutrition, University Of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Key words: Nutritional status; School Performance; Anthropometry; School Age Children;
The prevalence of malnutrition is still high in Nigeria (52.7%) [10]. Many children are malnourished which prevent them from reaching their optimum potential, because nutrition is a foundation on which human progress in built [1, 19]. It is however sad that malnutrition has continued to be a public health problem in developing countries where poor socio-economic conditions has continued to work in synergy with malnutrition [20].
The nutritional status of school-aged children impacts their health, cognition, and their educational achievement [3]. The school age is a dynamic period of growth and development. Poor health and malnutrition impair both the growth and cognitive development of primary school children [18].Diets offered to young children are of low quality, lack variety, low energy and nutrient density, They are usually of and multiple nutrient deficiencies are common in this age group [14].
Improving nutrient intake of children is important for health and well-being of individual [21]. Many children are malnourished which prevent them from reaching their optimum potential, because nutrition is a foundation on which human progress in built [1, 19]. It is however sad that malnutrition has continued to be a public health problem in developing countries [20].
The observation that many children in developing countries did not complete primary school and those who completed, did not do as well as children in developed countries, has kindled researchers’ interest in the relationship between nutritional status, health and educational achievement of school aged children in developing countries [22].
This poor performance led the noble Laureate James Watson to express gloom about the future of Africa, in the light of the finding that sub-Saharan Africans have lower average test scores than the people in other parts [22], though this seemingly poorer performance of Africans on test scores has been attributed to culturally unfair test instruments [18].
A growing concern about the Nigerian educational system is that it is failing to meet the national need for a competitive work force. Evidence exists that for any nation to develop a competitive work force, school children need to be in optimal health and nutritional status [23].
Previous studies have shown that food eaten by school children during break time is poor in both quality and quantity. Also the average amount brought to school by pupils in primary school is five Naira (N 5) so small that food purchase with this amount has no significant effect on nutritional status [21]. In developing countries like Nigeria, using Ogun State as a case study, where child malnutrition is common, understanding the impact of nutritional status on schooling is of even greater importance and urgency. Therefore, a study of this nature especially among school age children in Ogun State is imperative and a dearth of valid research of nutritional status and school performance by pupils in southwest Nigeria is scanty.
minimum sample size, ( Scott Smith 2013) thus;
Where Z is the Z score value 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.96
n = Minimum Sample Size
z = 1.96
d is the precision (0.05)
p = 52.7% (percentage of malnutrition in Nigeria) [10]
q =1-p
n = 384.16 10% of the minimum sample size was calculated using the formula above will be added to take care of attrition , Thus: 10% of 384.16 = 38.416 384.16 + 38.416 = 422.5
The sample size was approximately 423 from each of the Senatorial district in Ogun state and two Local Government Areas was selected from each of the Senatorial district it will be rounded up to 100 subjects from each of the Local Government Area making a total of 1200 sample size. of the 6.
Data were collected in the following ways:
Majority (68.2%) of the respondents live with both parents, 15.6% with their mother,6.5% with their father, 3.9% with their mother and step father and 5.8 with their relatives. (Table1&2).
Age range (years) |
Frequency %) |
Percentage (%) |
7-9 |
118 |
9.8 |
10-12 |
1082 |
90.2 |
Total |
1200 |
100 |
Sex |
||
Male |
551 |
45.9 |
Female |
649 |
54.1 |
Total |
1200 |
100 |
Religious Affiliation |
||
Christianity |
706 |
58.8 |
Islamic |
481 |
40.1 |
Traditional |
13 |
1.1 |
Total |
1200 |
100 |
Tribe |
||
Yoruba |
1090 |
90.8 |
Hausa |
39 |
2.9 |
Igbo |
55 |
5.5 |
Minority |
10 |
0.8 |
Total |
1200 |
100 |
Family Status |
||
with both parents |
818 |
68.2 |
with father only |
78 |
6.5 |
with mother only |
187 |
15.6 |
with mother and step father |
47 |
3.9 |
with relations |
70 |
5.8 |
Total |
1200 |
100 |
Status |
Frequency(no) Male |
Percentage (%) |
Frequency(no) female |
Percentage (%) |
Under-weight |
165 |
13.75 |
383 |
32.05 |
Normal |
297 |
24.75 |
268 |
22.35 |
Over-weight |
60 |
5 |
51 |
4.3 |
Obese |
29 |
2.4 |
3 |
0.3 |
Majority of the respondents had average score in mathematics, 22.3 % performed excellently and 7.4% performance was poor. Over half of the respondents, had average score in English language while 4.6% were poor and 26.2% were excellent. More than half of them had average performance, 38.2 % excellent and 4.0% poor performances in social studies (Table 4).
Subject |
Frequency(no) |
Percentage (%) |
Mathematics |
||
Poor |
89 |
7.4 |
Average |
844 |
70.3 |
Excellent |
267 |
22.3 |
English Language |
||
Poor |
55 |
4.6 |
Average |
831 |
69.3 |
Excellent |
314 |
26.2 |
Total |
1200 |
100.0 |
Social Studies |
||
Poor |
48 |
4 |
Average |
694 |
57.8 |
Excellent |
458 |
38.2 |
Total |
1200 |
100.0 |
Variable |
Male (n=551) |
Female (n=649) |
t-value |
p-value |
Height (m) |
135.85+7.867 |
136.86+8.323 |
-2.155 |
0.031* |
Weight (kg) |
40.52±8.574 |
40.46±9.518 |
0.108 |
0.914 |
Score in Math |
58.50±13.642 |
58.76±13.831 |
-0.319 |
0.750 |
Score in English |
60.44±14.092 |
61.74±14.063 |
-1.605 |
0.109 |
Score in Social Studies |
64.66±14.431 |
65.07±14.356 |
-0.482 |
0.630 |
Significant relationship existed between the Height-for-Age, BMI-for-Age and school performance of the respondents, as height of the pupils increases there is an increase in their school performance and their body mass index have a positive effect on their school performance which were significant (p ≤ 0.05) except mathematics score (Table 6).
Height for Age |
BMI for Age |
|
English Language score |
-0.025* |
0.001* |
Social studies score |
-0.017* |
0.002* |
Mathematics score |
-0.003* |
-0.071* |
Nutrient |
Male |
Female |
||
Frequency(no) |
Percentage (%) |
Frequency(no) |
Percentage (%) |
|
Energy (Calorie) |
||||
Inadequate |
137 |
34.3 |
198 |
49.5 |
Adequate |
27 |
6.8 |
30 |
7.5 |
Excess |
2 |
0.5 |
6 |
1.5 |
Protein (g) |
||||
Inadequate |
123 |
30.8 |
197 |
49.3 |
Adequate |
38 |
9.5 |
31 |
7.8 |
Excess |
5 |
1.3 |
6 |
1.5 |
Carbohydrate (g) |
||||
Inadequate |
84 |
21.0 |
133 |
33.3 |
Adequate |
70 |
17.5 |
89 |
22.3 |
Excess |
12 |
3.0 |
12 |
3.0 |
Fat (g) |
||||
Inadequate |
163 |
40.8 |
227 |
56.8 |
Adequate |
1 |
0.3 |
6 |
1.5 |
Excess |
2 |
0.5 |
1 |
0.3 |
Calcium (mg) |
||||
Inadequate |
163 |
40.8 |
232 |
58 |
Adequate |
2 |
0.5 |
1 |
0.3 |
Excess |
1 |
0.2 |
1 |
0.3 |
Zinc (mg) |
||||
Inadequate |
147 |
36.8 |
209 |
52.3 |
Adequate |
19 |
4.8 |
22 |
5.5 |
Excess |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0.8 |
Iron (mg ) |
||||
Inadequate |
82 |
20.5 |
122 |
30.5 |
Adequate |
62 |
15.5 |
75 |
18.8 |
Excess |
22 |
5.5 |
37 |
9.3 |
Vitamin A (mg ) |
||||
Inadequate |
119 |
29.7 |
172 |
43.0 |
Adequate |
30 |
7.5 |
38 |
9.5 |
Excess |
17 |
4.3 |
24 |
6.0 |
Vitamin C (mg) |
||||
Inadequate |
165 |
41.3 |
231 |
57.8 |
Adequate |
1 |
0.3 |
2 |
0.5 |
Excess |
0 |
0.0 |
1 |
0.2 |
Folate (mg) |
||||
Inadequate |
67 |
16.8 |
117 |
29.3 |
Adequate |
38 |
9.5 |
48 |
12.0 |
Excess |
61 |
15.3 |
69 |
17.3 |
However, the BMI values obtained from literature are lower than the BMI values in this study [13]. With the use of boundary BMI values, the percentage of overweight and obese of respondents were calculated in the group of respondents examined [5]. Obesity 2.7% Overweight 9.3%. BMI-for-age however, might not necessarily be appropriate in suggesting that so many of this study’s children are largely exempt from overweight or obesity. The BMI values may actually be misleading due to the body proportions of these children. Little is known regarding specific BMI values in primary school children and their relationships with concurrent or future risks and that the BMI-for-age curves do not necessarily ‘provide a desirable pattern that should be used as a healthy goal for school age children internationally’[6,16].
Offering primary school children the right food choices and helping them develop positive and healthy eating habits will support optimal functioning of the brain.
The finding from the research shows that almost all the children are deficient in the entire nutrient intake and more than half of the respondents’ academic performances were average which agrees the one found in literature, that the effect of malnutrition on cognitive ability indicated that chronic under nutrition is associated with lower achievement levels in school children. Significant relationship existed between the Height-for- Age, BMI-for-Age and school performance of the respondents, as height of the pupils increases there is an increase in their school performance and their body mass index have a positive effect on their school performance which were significant ( p ≤ 0.05) except mathematics score which is in line with the finding that nutrition affects learning and behavior and suggested that diet can influence cognition and behavior in many ways, which include the condition of not enough nutrition or the condition of the lack of certain nutrients. These children also showed poor school performance as compared to those children who had an adequate intake of fruits and vegetables [9].
Therefore, findings from this study can be used for nutrition education as parent’s educational level has a significant relationship with the nutritional status of their children which will have effect on the children school performance.
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