ASSESSMENT OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND SELF-REPORTED ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN UYO, AKWA IBOM, NIGERIA

Malnutrition in children is of a great public health concern because of its high morbidity and mortality and its effects on academic performance. This study aimed at describing the nutritional status of the local secondary schools students; identify factors associated with nutritional status and its relationship with self- reported academic performance. This was a cross sectional study of students attending public secondary schools in Uyo. Four schools were selected using simple random sampling and 100 students selected from each school. Personal information and academic performance was obtained using interviewers administered questionnaire, anthropometric measurements were taken and data analyzed using STATA version 10. A total of 377 students were analyzed, 35% males and 65% females, the mean age of the students was 13.7±2.3 years. The prevalence of obesity, underweight and stunting was 4%, 3.4% and 11.9% respectively. Young age and male sex were associated with obesity; young age and low level of maternal education were associated with underweight. Male sex, respondents with medium/low wealth index, those with low to moderate physical activity and those whose mothers were self-employed were more likely to be stunted. About 59% of students reported score of 50-75, and their academic performance had no relationship with the anthropometric indices. All types of malnutrition were seen among the students; therefore, there is a need for an intensive health education of parents on nutrition and provision of extra meal in public schools in order to reverse this trend.