STUDIES ON PROTEIN-ENERGY MALNUTRITION AMONG PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN IN KEBBI STATE (NIGERIA)
STUDIES ON PROTEIN-ENERGY MALNUTRITION AMONG PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN IN KEBBI STATE (NIGERIA)
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Date
1997
Authors
ALMUSTAFA, DANJUMA ABDULMOMIN
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Abstract
Two thousand five hundred and thirty nine pre-school
children randomly selected from urban and rural locations
in Kebbi state were assessed for weights, heights, and armcircumference
and a sub-sample of 800 hundred were served
socio-economic questionnaires and blood samples were
collected from 192 of the 800. The major meals eaten by the
subjects were sampled and analyzed for proximate composition
iron and zinc. The filled questionnaires were analyzed for
demographic, socio-economic and nutritional habits while the
blood samples were analyzed for PCV, [HB), plasma albumin,
globulins and total protein.
The results show that the prevalence PEM among the
children was very high. Mild wasting was the most prevalent
form of malnutrition (34.4% rural; 22.1% urban) whille mild
underweight and stunting were about the same in occurence
and were about half as prevalent as wasting in both sectors.
The prevalence of the severe forms of PEM were relatively
low, and ranged from one third to half of the prevalence of
the mild forms in the respective sectors.
The biochemical assessments revealed that many of the
children were also anaemic (17.2% rural; 10.0% urban). The
prevalence of hypoalbuminaemia and hypoproteinaemia were
9.7% and 30.3% in rural sector and 3.7% and 24.7% in urban
sector. The differences in the prevalence of the various
forms of malnutrition between the two sectors was
statistically significant ( p<0.05).
VIII
Analysis of the anthropometric indices compared to the
NCHS/WHO standars revealed that the NCHS/WHO standards
required only a 5% scaling down for weights and armcircumferences
to be suitable for assessing Nigerian
children. However the height standards did not require any
correction. The major causes of malnutrition among the
children in Kebbi state were poverty, large numbers of
dependants, illiteracy, frequent infections and above all,
poor quality diets.
Description
A Dissertation submitted to the Postgraduate School
Ahmadu Ballo University, Zaria, in partial fulfillment
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
BIOCHEMISTRY
Department of Biochemistry,
Faculty of Science,
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
Keywords
STUDIES, PROTEIN-ENERGY, MALNUTRITION, PRE-SCHOOL, CHILDREN, KEBBI STATE, NIGERIA