Dietary Intake, Nutritional Status, And The Double Burden of Malnutrition Among School-Aged Children in Benue South Senatorial District, Nigeria

Abstract

School-aged children in developing countries continue to face a high burden of malnutrition with adverse consequences for health, cognitive development, and educational performance, yet data remain scarce in Benue South Senatorial District despite Benue State's reputation as Nigeria's “food basket.” This school-based cross-sectional study assessed dietary intake, growth patterns, and the prevalence of malnutrition among 1,527 children aged 6–15 years selected through multistage sampling from Ogbadibo, Otukpo, and Ohimini Local Government Areas. Data were collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires and anthropometric measurements, with nutritional indices calculated using WHO growth standards and analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. The mean age of participants was 9.7 ± 1.8 years, and findings revealed a high prevalence of undernutrition, particularly stunting (24.8%) and wasting (21.5%), with wasting increasing from 22% at age 10 to 27% at age 15, while underweight remained below 5% and overweight/obesity was observed in 6.0% of children. Dietary assessment showed limited dietary diversity, with beans as the main protein source and fewer than 25% of children consuming eggs. Socio-economic status was significantly associated with malnutrition outcomes (p < 0.05). These findings demonstrate a persistent burden of undernutrition among school-aged children in an agriculturally productive region and highlight the urgent need for targeted schoolbased nutritional interventions aimed at improving dietary diversity and addressing the emerging double burden of malnutrition.