Secular Trends in Physical Growth among Nigerian Children from a Low Socio-economic Background.

Abstract

Summary: In a survey of anthropometric measurements in 208 pre-school children living at 20 Idikan, a low socio-economic urban area of Ibadan, it was found that the weights for age of the children were better than those of pre-school children in Oje, a similar low socio-economic urban area surveyed about two decades earlier. There was however, no significant difference in the heights-for-age of the two groups of children. Although the growth pattern as indicated by weights, had improved over the period of time, the overall secular improvement in physical growth was less than expected. The factors which appeared to be responsible for this included high illiteracy rate among the mothers, poor environmental sanitation, with its attendant recurrent diarrhoeal diseases, large family size and increased cost of food items which adversely affected the nutritional habits of the children,