THE EFFECT OF POLLUTION ON THE NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN.

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RESEARCH PROJECT TOPIC ON THE EFFECT OF POLLUTION ON THE NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN.

  • BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The Jevel of nutrition ànd health status are direct indicators of the quality oflife.and indirect indicators of overall socio-economic development in a society. Malnutrition could be said to be a pathological state in which an individual is taking in nutrients that are more or Jess than the required nonnal physiological range as needed by the body (Jelliffe, 1966). Malnutrition impairs immunocompetence so that children involved tend to be more prone. To severe infection than heijlthy children, (Delgado, 1980). It could also result in adverse effects like kwashiorkor, marasmus, increased morbidity, increased mortality, and retarded growth which consequently impair intellectual performance (P~telletier; 1994, Van de Broeck et al, 1993). N utritional statu~ cou Id be defined in tenns of input and output indicators. Input indicators measure the food and nutrient intake like home   diet consumption, while output indicators include the clinical signs of malnutrition, biochemical indicators, physical activities and anthropometric measurements, thus making it more related to health and functional capacity,(Morterel et al 1990).

Statement of the Problem

Malnutrition is a major determinant of mortality rate 111 children (Martorell et al 1990) and it has been documented that childhood malnutrition is widespread in Nigeria (UNICEF/Federal Govemment of Nigeria, 1990). Malnutrition has also been found to be the major cause of mortality and morbidity among the young children in the developing country (Idusogie, I 980, UNICEF/Federal Govenunent of Nigeria, 1990, Jelliffe, 1963). Bailey et al (1980) rep011ed that malnutrition was responsible as an underlying cause for a high proportion of under-five deaths in the developing countries. It has been documented that more than one-quarter of a million children die every week in the developing countries as a result of chronic malnutrition and infection. (UNICEF/Federal Govenunent of Nigeria 1988). It has also been reported by UNICEF/Federal Govemment of Nigeria, ( 1994) that more than 50% of the under-five children in the country are stunted i.e. chronically malnuourished; Malnutrition has a negative effect on intellectual perfonnances, and it is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in a high proportion of children in Nigeria today. It therefore becomes an important public health problem and calls for urgent attention, in order to arrest this dangerous trend. Ransome-Kuti et al (1972) reported in his study some socio-economic factors that contribute to malnutrition, and showed that malnutrition was more rampant among the lower socio-economic group in Nigeria. Epe Local Govemment area of Lagos State, which is the study area, is one of the n1ral local govemments in Lagos State, and is partly smTotmded by the lagoon. Due to the general economic hardship in the country and the deprived environment, with its coastal and mainland setting of c01rununities, the inhabitants are mainly from the lower socio-economic class. A lot of studies have been done on the nutritional st;itus of under-fives in Nigeria, but there is little or no infonnation documented on the nutritional status of the primary school children of ages 6-13 years of Lagos state. In addition, not much work has been can-ied out flssessing the nutritional status of children from the same socio-economic background but different environments, viz, coastal and mainland environments. Also since Primary School education has been made compulsory in Lagos State, this age group 6-13 years will be available at school for effective intervention which can be implemented to improve the health of the school children. Moreover, development and economic planners are looking for social indicators such as nutritional status to guide their decisions on economic development strategies. Nutritional status of the children is a health indicator, thus the infonnation from this study will be useful for health planners as baseline data for developing intervention programmes to break the vicious circle of malnutrition in this age group. It is therefore pertinent for the nutritional status of this age group to be assessed. This study was therefore can-ied out to fill in the gap on nutritional status of school age children in Epe Local Govenunent Area of Lagos State.

 

1.3 JECTIVES OF THE STUDY:-

This study is primarily to assess the nutritional status of the primary school children in coastal and mainland areas of Epe Local Govemment area of Lagos State.

1.4 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:-

  1. The study is to assess the level of malnutrition among the primary school children in Epe Local Govemment area of Lagos State.
  2. To compare the nutritional status of children in Coastal and Mainland schools of Epe Local Govemment Area of Lagos State.
  3. To identify the factors that contributes to their nutritional status and makes appropriate recommendations.

1.5 NULL HYPOTHESIS

There is no significant different of the level of malnutrition among the primary school children in Epe Local Govemment area of Lagos State

There is no significant different of the nutritional status of children in Coastal and Mainland schools of Epe Local Govemment Area of Lagos State

There is no significant factor that contributes to their nutritional status and makes appropriate recommendations

1.6  Significance of the Study

The findings of this study would be beneficial to the teachers, researchers, Ministry of Education, students, and educational policy makers. The findings would provide useful information to the teachers on the appropriate nutritional status and how it affects student well being

This study would also be significant in the sense that its finding would serve as reference materials for future researchers to carry out further studies in the field of knowledge under study

The outcomes of this research would to be of immense benefits to students of Faculty of Education and Educational policy makers because its revealed information on nutritional facts of students

       In every research work, it is likely that the researcher may encounter some limitations. The researcher encountered some challenges during the period of carrying out this research. Some of these challenges include the dearth of materials for a proper and effective research work constituted a major limitation. Again, how to get the true and required information from the students through questionnaire also constituted a constraint in the study.

Finally, there was the problem of convincing the students on the primary objectives of the questionnaire so as to give the true and required information. However, the intervention of the class teachers in the schools who took time to clear the air and convince his students helped the investigator to administer the instrument successfully.

THE EFFECT OF POLLUTION ON THE NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN.

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