Breastfeeding Knowledge and Factors Associated with Breastfeeding Initiation among Post-partum Mothers in Selected Areas in Ibadan, Nigeria

Breastfeeding knowledge of the mothers and support given to them by health care providers after delivery can influence mothers’ attitude to breastfeeding and their willingness to initiate breastfeeding early. The study assessed breastfeeding knowledge and factors associated with breastfeeding initiation among postpartum mothers in urban and rural areas of Ibadan. This cross-sectional study was conducted among three hundred and sixty (360) postpartum mothers who attended Primary and Private Health Centres in rural and urban areas of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. A semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on the socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of breastfeeding, intention to breastfeed and factors which influence the breastfeeding initiation. Majority of the respondents were young adults within the age of 25-35 years, with mean age of 28.9±5.73years. Two third (71.4%) of them had good knowledge of breastfeeding and only 48.6% initiated breastfeeding early. A positive significant association was observed between breastfeeding knowledge and breastfeeding initiation (p<0.05). Complication during or before childbirth, mothers being educated by the health workers on breastfeeding initiation, help given to the mothers during initiation of breastfeeding by healthcare provider and rooming-in of mother and child were found to be significantly associated with breastfeeding initiation among the postpartum mothers (p<0.05). Adequate knowledge on the benefits of breastfeeding should be promoted among pregnant women during antenatal care and adequate supports should be given to postpartum mothers after delivery to enhance early breastfeeding initiation and practice of adequate breastfeeding

The knowledge and reported vaccination status of hepatitis B virus amongst medical students in a Nigerian tertiary teaching hospital

Objective: Preventing the occupational risk of contracting the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is against a backdrop of knowledge and vaccination. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge of the medical students on HBV infection and their vaccination status.Method: A cross-sectional study on was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire. Data of 202 students were analyzed using SPSS v. 20. Descriptive statistical tests were applied.Result: Subjects' ages ranged from 19 to 36 years, mean age of 25.65± 3.3years, 54.1% were males. The knowledge score on general knowledge was 79.2%, on risks factors and mode of transmission of virus was 74.9% whilst on prevention was 89%. The reported vaccination status was 22.8%. Eighty one of them (40.1%) had been tested for the HBV with 4(4.9%) testing positive.Conclusion: The medical students had good knowledge of the Hepatitis B virus however the vaccination status was low.Keywords: Chronic Hepatitis B, Health care workers, mode of transmissio

Association between nutrition knowledge, lifestyle, dietary practices and nutritional status among civil servants in western Nigeria

Nutrition knowledge plays a crucial role in promoting healthier eating practices, leading to the maintenance of healthy body weight. This is because  knowledge of dietary guidelines and healthy eating habits among adults has been positively correlated. However, in terms of dietary habits,  presumptions that the supposed civil servants in some parts of Western Nigeria are knowledgeable about basic dietary practices are yet to be  explored. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the nutrition knowledge, lifestyle, dietary practices, and nutritional status among men and  women civil servants in Ado, Ekiti State, Nigeria. A structured interviewer questionnaire was administered to civil servants (180 male and 220 female  elderly respondents, <60years old) to collect data on economic and socio-demographic characteristics, nutrition knowledge, lifestyle, and dietary  habits. Anthropometric measurements were also taken. The quantitative were coded, collated, and analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics were  used to summarize data from categorical variables. Chi-square test, at a 5% confidence level, was used to establish any significant relationship  between food intake parameters and nutrition knowledge. Most of the respondents (66.7%) were affected by the delayed payment of their monthly  salaries. The total knowledge scores revealed that 13.25%, 41.25% and 45.50% of the respondents had poor, fair and good nutrition knowledge,  respectively. Unfortunately, this higher nutrition knowledge does not translate into good dietary habits. Data obtained revealed bad eating habits,  as a more significant percentage of the respondents regularly ate high-fat foods (99.5%), ate outside the home (85.3%) and did not take vegetables  (83.3%) nor fruits (60%) daily. There exists, however, a significant and positive relationship between nutrition knowledge and physical activity  (P=0.043), high-fat foods consumption (P<0.001), daily fruits consumption (P<0.001) and vegetable consumption (P<0.001). In conclusion, the  discrepancy between the respondents' high nutrition knowledge and their seemingly poor lifestyle and dietary behaviour show that nutrition  knowledge alone does not translate into good dietary behaviour.&nbsp

Prevalence of helicobacter pylori in diabetes patients and health workers at a tertiary hospital in south west Nigeria

Objective: Helicobacter Pylori (H.P) is a common bacterial infection that has been associated with diabetes mellitus (DM). The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with DM and the association with anthropometry, duration of DM and medication.Method: A cross sectional study involving consecutive recruitment of 193 subjects; 99 diabetics attending the outpatient clinic and 94 controls from hospital staffs. The Heliprobe urea breath test was used in the detection of H.P.Results: The prevalence of H.P was 96.8% in the controls and 85.6% in the diabetics (X2 =7.56, P =0.006) with significant female preponderance among the diabetics (X2 =7.01, P=0.008). H.P had no significant association among the diabetics with regards to BMI, duration of DM and medication.Conclusion: The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori was higher in the control than the diabetics.Keywords: Helicobacter pylori, diabetes mellitus, tertiary hospita

DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF AUTOMATED YAM COOKING AND POUNDING MACHINE

This work is focused on the design and fabrication of automated yam cooking and pounding machine to perform the hygienic processing of pounded yam thereby eliminating the laborious process and also minimizing of time involved in processing pounded yam. The aim of this project is to design and fabricate a machine that will cook and pound the yam. During the design and fabrication of this machine, many factors were considered and these include cost of production, effectiveness of the machine, economic requirement and maintenance. The machine was fabricated using stainless steel, mild steel, pulleys, belt, bearing and shaft. A type A37 belt was used (v-belt), the depth of the bowl is 160mm, length, width and thickness of the beater is 73 x 30 x 3 mm. The cooking aspect and automated part of the machine includes; the heating element (electric heater), contactor, thermostat and timer. The diameter of the driving pulley is 150mm and the diameter of the driven pulley is 200mm. The test and performance evaluation of the machine was carried out at the University of Benin workshop. The result from the testing showed that the yam cooking and pounding machine produced a hygienic and well processed pounded yam in a lesser time. It totally eliminated the laborious process involved in pounding. The efficiency of the machine was 84.523% which is fair for a locally fabricated machine. Given that some percentage was lost due to the vibration from the motor. Keywords: Yam, Cooking, Pounding Machine, Design, Fabrication, Automated DOI: 10.7176/IEL/14-1-05 Publication date: July 31st 202

Blood Pressure Patterns, Stress Assessment and Anthropometric Characteristics of Health Workers in Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria

Background: Globally, the burden of cardio-metabolic diseases especially obesity, hypertension, diabetes is rapidly increasing, and the African continent is most affected region in the world.Objective: The study assessed the blood pressure patterns, stress assessment and anthropometric characteristics of health workers in Jos university teaching hospital, Jos, NigeriaMethods: Apparently healthy 283 staff was randomly selected. Structured questionnaire, anthropometric instruments and digital sphygmomanometer were used to source information from the respondents. Obesity, blood pressurepatterns and stress assessment of the respondents were assessed in according to WHO standard and International Stress Management Association (ISMA) respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square. In all cases, a probability of (<0.05) were taken to indicates level of significanceResults: The mean age of the respondents was 36.72 ± 9.47years. More females (68%) participated in the study than males (32%). Only (21.6%) of the respondents drink alcohol, 2.5% smoke cigarette, 65% did not engage in physical exercise while 18.1% eat late at night. Prevalence of Overweight/Obesity as determined by abnormal values for BMI, WC, WHR, BIA and WHtR were 48.9%, 31.1%, 43.1%, 65% and 71.4% respectively while 30.1% had a raised blood pressure,more than half (69.9%) of the respondents were either moderately or highly stressed. Significant difference was found in age, nature of work and parents with chronic Diseasesacross the gender (p<0.05).Conclusion: Overweight, obesity, moderate stress level and high blood pressure were prevalent among the health workers. Obesity was the risk factor of high blood pressure among them. Keywords: Hypertension, obesity, stress, health workers, alcoho