A Comparative Assessment of the Epidemiology of Malnutrition among Pupils in Public and Private Primary School in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State

Background: Majority of school children lack adequate amount of food, thereby inducing malnutrition, which now poses a serious threat to education, particularly in developing countries, including Nigeria. The importance of good nutrition in the proper and optimal development in childhood is indispensible because children are at a stage in life when all the tissues and cells are rapidly growing and organs are developed for specific functions in the child's life.Methodology: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among pupils of selected Public and Private schools in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau state, Nigeria. A multistage sampling method was used to recruit the calculated sample size of 500 pupils; an interviewer administered questionnaires, weighing scale, measuring tape meter were the instrument used for data collection.Results: The socio demographic data of 290 and 210 pupils of the public and private schools respectively were compared. The pupils' ranged between 5-17years with majority between 6-10 years in all the schools. Pupils in the private school were more nourished and had an appropriate weight-for-age more than 90% of the normal range with an ideal height-for-age of 48.0% more than those in the public school.Conclusion: Nutritional imbalance can affect the educational outcome of the children amongst many other things. Measures such as school feeding should be introduced on a national scale in order to alleviate any deficiency state of the pupils

Breast Self Examination- A Necessary Preventive Tool: Knowledge and Practice among Students of College of Education Gindiri, Plateau State

Background: Breast cancer a non-communicable disease is a fast growing epidemic in most part of the world more importantly in the developing countries like Nigeria. Study objective was to determine the knowledge and practice of Breast Self Examination (BSE), a necessary preventive tool, among students of the College of Education, Gindiri, Plateau State.Methodology: It was a cross-sectional study of female students. A semi structured self administered questionnaire was used to collect relevant data. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to recruit 115 students. Microsoft word Excel was used for data entry and cleaning while SPSS version 19.0 statistical soft ware was used for data analysis for both the qualitative and quantitative data generated.Results: Students aged 18 to 38 years (mean age of 23.86±3.59 years). Knowledge on BSE was poor (79.1%) with only (20.9%) with a good knowledge on what BSE meant. Few students 18 (15.7%) had practiced BSE once or in the last 6 months to one year. Thirty-nine (33.9%) of the students had at least one breast cancer related risk factors. A non- statistically significant (p=0.116) association was established between presence of the associated breast cancer risk factors and the practice of BSE.Conclusion: Poor level of knowledge and practice of BSE was established among the students. No statistically significant association was established between students that had any or all of the associated breast cancer risk factors and the practice of BSE

Medical Emergencies in Primary Schools and School Ownership of First Aid Boxes

Introduction: The school system aims at developing pupils academically and socially. In the process of achieving this, pupils are prone to accidents and medical emergencies due to their vulnerabilities. The ability of the school system to respond to these challenges may depend on the availability of well equipped First Aid Boxes (FABs) and the promptness of initiation of first Aid treatment.Objectives: The study determined the prevalence and types of medical emergencies in primary schools and the level of ownership of FABs.Methods: Using a multi-stage sampling technique, twenty-two primary schools were studied and a cross sectional study design was employed. Interviewer administered questionnaire and check-list were the instruments of data collection. SPSS statistical software version 16.0 was used for the analysis.Results: The 22 primary schools had a total population of 6,933 pupils; (4.9%) of the 139,494 population of the district. Twenty seven percent of the respondents experienced bruises, falls, and cuts; (22.7%) fever, cuts and episodes of convulsion; (13.6%) fever, bruises, stomach pains, falls and fractures. About (59.1%) of the primary schools had FABs with only (45.5%) of these schools with FABs containing the basic items.Conclusion: This study has brought to light the level of ownership of FABs in primary schools as well as prevalence and types of medical emergencies in primary schools. In view of this, actions need to be taken to address the identified gaps.Key words: Schools, First Aid Boxes, Medical Emergencie

Knowledge of malaria and practice of home management of malaria among mothers of under fives

Background: Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease associated with high morbidity and mortality. It is the 3rd leading cause of death for children under five years worldwide. Home-based management of malaria may go a long way in reducing the attending morbidity and mortality associated with malaria in this group of subjects.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 66 mothers of under five children accessing services in under five clinic in a tertiary health institution to determine the knowledge of malaria and practice of Home Management of Malaria (HMM).Result: The respondents in the study were within the age range of 16 – 45 years with mean age of 25 ± 5 years. Majority (95.5%) of the mothers of under-fives were aware of malaria while only 34.8% had heard of HMM. Less than half (42.4%) of the respondent had practiced management of malaria at home within 24 hours of onset of fever and only 25% used the recommended drug. Age and level of education of the mothers of under fives were significantly associated with the practice of HMM (P < 0.05).Conclusion: The study demonstrates the low level of practice of HMM among mothers of under-fives.Keywords: Knowledge, Practice, Home Management of Malaria, Under-five

Community Based Health Insurance Knowledge and Willingness to Pay; A Survey of a Rural Community in North Central Zone of Nigeria

Introduction: A Community-Based Health Insurance Scheme (CBHI) is any program managed and operated by a community-based organization that provides resource pooling and risk-sharing to cover the costs of health care services. CBHI reduces out of pocket expenditure and is the most appropriate insurance model for rural areas where incomes are unstable. The recent ''health care crisis'' has led to the emergence of many CBHI in developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to explore the knowledge of and Willingness to pay for CBHI in a rural community in Plateau State.Methods: Using multi-stage sampling technique, 450 adult subjects were recruited for the study. Data was gotten from them using an interviewer administered structured questionnaire and was analyzed using EPI-info statistical software version 3.5.2. Chi-square test was used to show relationship between demographic features and outcome variables.Results: Seventy one percent of respondents had a good knowledge of CBHI was l (28.7%) with the mass media being their main source of information (53.3%). About 91.5% of subjects are not members of any health scheme while 93.6% percent were willing to pay into a CBHI scheme. Thrift collection was the preferred method of financing the social insurance scheme in the community. Knowledge on CBHI and Willingness to pay was higher in more educated, single subjects.Conclusion: Knowledge of CBHI was low among the studied populace although the willingness to pay was encouragingly high. This willingness needs to be promptly harnessed by Community leaders and health workers to improve access to Health Care by the vulnerable rural populace