Comparing dietary practices and nutritional status of children on school feeding programme with others in Jos North Local Government Area, Plateau state

Abstract

Background: Childhood malnutrition is a public health problem in most developing countries and in Nigeria, to control it the school feeding programme was launched. This study sought to compare dietary practices and nutritional status of school children on the feeding programme with those not included in the programme, in Jos North Local Government Area, North-Central Nigeria.
Methods: This school-based comparative cross-sectional study was carried out among 247 pupils selected using a two-staged sampling technique from four public primary schools; two of which were running the National School Feeding Programme. Data was collected and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21.0. A 95% confidence interval was used and a probability value of p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: There was no statistically significant difference in the nutritional practices of the pupils in both groups (p = 0.3661) and majority of the pupils on the school feeding programme liked the food served because it was palatable. The prevalence of stunting among school-fed pupils was 43.3% compared with 47.5% among the non-school fed pupils (p=0.035). The prevalence of overweight among school-fed pupils was 1.6% compared with 2.5% among those not on the school feeding programme (p = 0.456). The proportion of children with normal weight for height was higher among school-fed pupils (92.1%) compared with the non-school feeding programme group (84.2%) (p=0.035).
Conclusion: There was no difference in the dietary practices reported by both groups of pupils; however, nutritional status was better among the school-fed children. It is recommended that the school feeding programme be extended to all public primary schools in Jos North LGA.