Ann Nutr Food Sci | Volume 1, Issue 2 | Research Article | Open Access
Oluwole Steve Ijarotimi* and Mojisola Lydia Erota
Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, Nigeria
*Correspondance to: Oluwole Steve Ijarotimi
Fulltext PDFBackground: The purpose of this research work was to assess household food security and its nutritional implications on adolescents from selected Local Government Areas of Lagos, Nigeria.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among school children (9- 20 years) in public and private secondary schools between March and June, 2017. The participants (2000) were selected from rural and urban communities using multistage sampling technique from three Local Government Areas of Lagos State. Information on bio-data and household Food insecurity access scale (HFIAS) were collected using pre-tested and semi- structured questionnaire. Height and weight of the participants were measured using standard methods. Data were analysed using statistical package, and results were presented descriptively. Chi-square test and odd ratio were calculated to compare means and relationship between parameters (P<0.05).
Results: The socio-economic status of respondents parents were as follows: for educational attainment, 19.1% completed primary school, 33.1% secondary school and 27.8% tertiary level; while the remaining (20.0%) had no formal education. The average monthly income of the family heads showed that 63.7% earned less than twenty-five thousand Naira per month ($71.4), while the remaining earned above. Occupation of the family head were farming (44.1%), self-employed (31.1%) and civil servants (21.8%). The prevalence of household food insecurity were mildly (15.9%), moderately (8.0%) and severely (4.6%), while the remaining families were food secured (71.6%). The mean weight, height and BMI of the female and male respondents were 47.6 ± 1.4 - 48.4 ± 1.7 kg, 1.57 ± 0.01 - 1.61 ± 0.00 m and 19.6 ± 0.3 - 19.3 ± 0.4 kg/m2 respectively. The prevalence of underweight was higher in male adolescents (47.1%) than female (38.0%) counterparts, whereas, the prevalence of overweight/obese in female (7.6%) was higher when compared to that of male (6.0%) counter parts. Statistically, there was significant (OR=1.03, P=0.004) relationship between the household food security status and nutritional status outcomes of the participants.
Conclusion: This study finding showed high prevalence of household food insecurity, underweight and emerging cases of overweight and/or obesity among adolescents. Hence, there is a need for nutrition and economic intervention programmes in order to improve optimal nutrition among the children.
Household food security; Nutritional implications; Adolescents
Ijarotimi OS, Erota ML. Assessing Household Food Security Status and Nutritional Outcome among Underprivileged Children (10-19 Years) from East Senatorial District of Lagos State, Nigeria. Ann Nutr Food Sci. 2018; 1(2): 1008.