ABSTRACT
This
study was design to assesses snacks and beverage consumption pattern of school
aged children in Umuahia North Local Government area of Abia State. Data for
this report was obtained from a cross-sectional survey of 218 school age
children. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit information on
personal, caregivers’ socio-economic characteristics, beverages and snack
consumption. Information on anthropometry was also determined using standard
methods. Data obtained from the study were subjected to statistical analysis,
using statistical package for social sciences version 23. The results of the different variables
collected revealed that many of the respondents 42 (19.3%) were within the ages
of 9 Years. Those in public schools were more (39.4%) compare to those in
missionary school (37.6%) and private schools (22.9%). Their class showed that
18.3% were primary 1 and primary 2 each while 19.3%, 12.8%, 12.4% and 18.8%
were in primary 3, 4, 5, and 6 respectively. Most (84.9%) of the children
reside with both parents (father and mother) as 8.7% and 0.9% reside with
mother and father respectively. However, 2.8% lives with brother/sister and a
relation each. Most (97.7%) of the children were christens while only 2.3% were
traditional worshipers. Information on how
the children take lunch in school revealed that many (68.8%) do go to school
with lunch box as parent gives 18.8% money to buy food in school and
12.4% don't take lunch to school.The BMI for age showed that 45.4% had normal
BMI for age while 10.6%, 20.6%, 3.7% and 5.0% were obsessed, overweight,
underweight and Severely underweight respectively. More of the children had
normal (64.2%) weight for age as 4.6% were both overweight and obese. The
prevalence of severely underweight (6.4%) were more than underweight (4.6%).
The height for age revealed that 77.5% had normal height for age while 3.2% and
16.1% were stunted and severely stunted. The beverage consumption of the
respondents revealed that more (56.9%) consumed coca cola rarely as 23.4%
consumed it weekly. The sprite consumption showed that 49.5% consumed sprite
weekly as 1.8% it daily. Few (2.8%) of the children consumed fanta daily as
54.2% consumed it weekly.
It
was also observed that prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting was
high. However, daily consumption of foods from milk and dairy products, fruits
and vegetable group was poor, thus showing the need for parents to be educated
on the importance of meat, milk, fruits and vegetables in the health and
well-being of their children
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Statement of Problem
1.2 Objective of the study
1.3 Significance of the study
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Snacks
2.1.1 Prevalence of Snacking Among School Aged Children
2.2 Beverages
2.3 Consumption Pattern of Snacks and Beverages
2.4 Snacks and Beverage product consumption and key nutrient intake
and status in
School aged
children
2.4.1 Calcium
2.4.2 Phosphorus
2.4.3 Magnesium
2.4.4 Iodine
2.4.5 Potassium
2.5 Factors affecting beverage consumption in childhood
2.5.1 Age
2.5.2 Sex
2.5.3 Parental influence
2.5.4 Dietary pattern
2.6 Benefits
of Snacks and Beverage
2.6.1 Impact of Beverage
Consumption on Health Outcomes
2.6.2 Impact of snack and beverage consumption on
diet quality
2.6 Effect
of milk and dairy products on linear growth in undernourished children
2.6.1 School-aged
children
2.7 Dietary
dairy in growth and development
CHAPTER
3
MATERIALS
AND METHODS
3.1 Study
Design
3.2 Study Area
3.3 Population of the Study
3.4 Sampling
and Sampling Technique
3.4.1 Sample
size determination
3.4.3 Sampling Procedure
3.5 Preliminary activities
3.5.1 Preliminary visit
3.5.2 Training of research assistants
3.5.3 Ethical approval
3.6 Data collection
3.6.1 Questionnaire design
3.6.2 Questionnaire administration
3.6.3 Anthropometric measurement
3.7 Data Analysis
3.8 Statistical
Analysis
CHAPTER
4
RESULT
AND DISCUSSION
4.1: Sociodemographic
Characteristics of the School Age Children and Their Parents
4.2: How the Child Take Lunch in School
4.2: Anthropometric
Status of the School Age Children
4.2: Anthropometric
Status of the School Age Children
4.3: The
Distribution of the School Type of the Children According to Their
Anthropometric Status
4.4: Snacks
and Beverages Consumption.
CHAPTER
5
CONCLUSION
AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1: Conclusion
5.2: Recommendation
References
LIST OF TABLE
Table 4.1a: Sociodemographic
Characteristics of the School Age Children and Their Parents
Table 4.1b: Sociodemographic
Characteristics of the School Age Children and Their Parents
Table 4.3: The
Distribution of the School Type of the Children According To Their
Anthropometric Status
Table 4.4: Snacks and Beverages Consumption.
Table 4.4: Snacks and Beverages Consumption Cont.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
The issue of food is very basic to human life. It is so basic and
obvious that it often escapes public attention until it is not there or until
the consumption of an unhealthy mix of it contributes to health problems
(Abdullahi and Yakubu, 2013). Among the variety of functions that food performs
include; acting as a source of nourishment, as a pastime for personal
indulgence or as a focus for socializing with family, friends, and others and
in contributing to a general sense of individual and national well-being
(Abdullahi and Abdullahi, 2014).
The relevance and significance of each of those roles played by
food to an individual or a group of people are expected to reasonably vary as
diversity exists among various groups of consumers in relation to their
characteristics such as age, income, gender, educational background to mention
but few (Pantoja‐Mendoza et al.,2014).
It is therefore not surprising that the issue of food consumption is
described as immensely complex. It is widely acknowledged that beverages
constitute a type of food and a major source of energy in most countries
(Adedayo et al., 2013).
Although snacks can provide important nutrients for young children
during the complementary feeding period, the increasing availability of snack
foods and sugar‐sweetened beverages (SSB), often energy‐dense and nutrient‐poor,
in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMIC) is a concern. Such foods may
displace consumption of nutritious foods in contexts where diets are often
nutritionally inadequate and the burden of childhood malnutrition is high
(Osuntogun and Aboaba, 2014).
Ensuring a nutritious diet in the first 2 years of life, in terms
of both quantity and quality, is vital for young children's nutrition and
health (Phillip
et al., 2013).
During this period of accelerated growth and development, a child's nutrient requirements
are high. The types of snacks fed to young children however are important to
ensure diet quality. Snack food products and sugar‐sweetened beverages (SSB)
are often energy‐dense, nutrient‐poor, and high in salt or sugar (Lucan et al., 2012; Monteiro et al., 2016; Sekiyama et al., 2012; Waseem et al., 2014), making them inappropriate
for infant and young child feeding (Moodie et
al., 2013).
The growing availability of unhealthy processed
foods in many low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMIC) is a concerning trend
(Monteiro et al., 2013).
Excessive consumption of snack food products and beverages is one of the
leading causes of overweight and obesity among children (Nicklas et al., 2013; Phillips et al., 2014; Welsh, 2015).
Additionally, energy‐dense, nutrient‐poor foods early in life can displace
consumption of other nutritious foods, including snacks that are not enriched
(Kimmons et al., 2015), potentially increasing a child's risk of
inadequate nutrient intakes and contributing to childhood undernutrition. The
correlation between consumption of snack foods/SSB and lower consumption of
nutrient‐rich foods and/or reduced nutrient intakes has been shown in
high‐income settings (Marriott et al.,
2012;
Murakami & Livingstone, 2015).
School
age is the age at which a child is old enough to go to school. School age child
development is a range from 6 to 12 years of age (Umeokonkwo et al.,
2020). During this time period observable differences in height, weight, and
build of children may be prominent. The language skills of children continue to
grow and many behavior changes occur as they try to find their place among
their peers. There is an increasing trend of being overweight and obese in
school-aged children, mainly attributable to reduced physical activity (Manyike
et al., 2014).
Undernutrition
is a major public health problem worldwide, especially in low and middle-income
countries (Manyike et al., 2014). Globally, in 2015, 159 million
children under the age of five were estimated to be stunted and more than a
third of these live in Africa (WHO, 2015). Fifty million under-five children
were wasted with 16 million being severely wasted, in 2015 as reported by
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI, 2016). In Nigeria, 33% of
under-five children were stunted, 19.4% were underweight while 7.2% had
moderate acute malnutrition in 2015 (WHO, 2015).
1.1 Statement of Problem
At least one in three children is not getting the nutrition they
need to grow well, particularly in the crucial first 1,000 days – from
conception to the child's second birthday – and often beyond. An increasing
number of children and young people are surviving, but far too few are thriving
because of malnutrition. While several studies have revealed that there is an
association between frequent snacking and higher total caloric intake (USDA,
2015; Sebastian et al., 2015; Keast et al., 2012), some studies have
reported no relationship between snacking behaviour and weight status, while
others have found that young people who consume more snacks are more likely to
be overweight (Larson and Story, 2013). Obtaining reliable data on snack and
beverage consumption is a necessary tool in health promotion and prediction of
disease risk, particularly for cardiovascular diseases. Although some research
has been done on snacking patterns in adolescents in Nigeria, there is no
recent data on the consumption pattern of snacks and beverages of school aged
children in Abia State.
Children consumption behavior towards snacks and beverages
products is very low and strongly influenced by psychological, social, economic
and cultural factors (Rena et al., 2012;
Tuan et al., 2013). Both
cross-sectional surveys and longitudinal data suggest a decreasing trend in
beverage consumption with age (Maunder et al., 2015). In addition to compromising the status of micronutrients,
including calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iodine, zinc, potassium, vitamin A,
vitamin D, vitamin B12, and riboflavin (vitamin B2), beverage product
consumption below recommended levels may have an adverse impact on bone and
dental integrity and maintenance of healthy body composition (Ranganathan et al., 2015). Levels of mineral and
vitamin deficiency that have no clinical symptoms can and do impair
intellectual development, cause illness and early death on a very large scale,
and condemn perhaps a third of the world to live life below their physical and
mental potential (Rafferty and Heaney, 2015). Hence this study aimed at
assessing the snacks and beverage consumption pattern of school agedd children
in Umuahia North Local Government area of Abia State.
1.2 Objective of the study
The general objective of this study is to evaluate the snacks and beverage consumption pattern of school aged
children in Umuahia North Local Government area of Abia State.
The Specific objectives include:
1.
to assess the
socio-demographic characteristics of school aged children and their parent
2.
to determine
the beverage and snacks consumption behavior of the school aged children for
snacks and beverage
3.
comparing the
differences between anthropometric status among private, and public school
children
4.
to assess the
anthropometric status of school aged children in Umuahia North Local Government
area of Abia State using Body Mass Index (BMI).
1.3 Significance of the study
This work would provide data that would be:
Relevant in snacks and beverage consumption with potential
to address consumption behavior among school aged children in Nigeria. The
knowledge derived from this study will assist those
involved in health education and promotion of healthy
eating habits among school aged students.
Promote consumption of snacks and beverage among
school-aged children, which are rich naturally in nutrients to reduce
occurrences of some nutrient and micronutrient deficiencies.
At the end of this study, suggestions and recommendations will be
made on some factors that will affect successful consumption of snacks and
beverages products of school-aged children in the country
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