Prevalence of malnutrition using Z-scores and absolute values in children under five years of age in Utan village, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the use of Z scores and absolute measurements in determining the prevalence of malnutrition among under-five children in the Plateau State, Nigeria. DESIGN: A community based, cross sectional study of under-five children. SETTING: An urban slum, Utan village, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. POPULATION: The village has a projected population of 3,000 people; 15% of whom are under-fives. STUDY POPULATION: Four hundred and twenty six under-five children. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Absolute measures of weight for age, weight for height and height for age; and Z scores for the same indicators. INTERVENTION: Mass chemotherapy (antihelminths) and nutrition education were carried out after the study was done in 1993. RESULTS: Based on absolute measurements, 23.7% of the children had low weight for age; 34.9% of the under-fives were stunted (height for age), while 11.1% had low weight for height. Using Z-scores, 25.3% of the under-fives were malnourished based on weight for age, 37% were stunted (height for age), while 8.7% had low weight for height. CONCLUSION: Stunting is still prevalent in the under-five children surveyed in spite of the siting of the PHC clinic which offers promotive, preventive and curative services. Small scale industry could be set up to empower the women economically so that they can provide enough food for their households. A credit/loan scheme would also be beneficial. Emphasis should be placed on growth monitoring to help the women discover when the weight of their children is faltering. The use of oral rehydration therapy against diarrhoeal diseases and immunisation against the common childhood diseases that also affect the nutritional status of the children is important. Nutrition education and family planning programmes should be effectively organised for mothers.

Body weight and uterine leiomyomas among women in Nigeria.

Objective of this study was to determine possible relationship between body weight and incidence of uterine leiomyomas (UL) among women in Umuahia, South Eastern Nigeria. The study involved one hundred and fifty-one UL patients whose body mass indices were compared with those of age-matched controls. Incidence of UL was found to be related to body weight of women aged 26-40 years. Body mass index (BMI) is weight in kg divided by square of height in metres. Mean BMIs +/- standard deviation (SD) of UL patients were found to be significantly higher than those of controls: (26.85 +/- 5.32 vs 21.63 +/- 7.76, P = 0.036) for women aged 26-30 years; (24.52 +/- 4.01 vs 22.75 +/- 4.03, P = 0.027) for women aged 31-35 years; (26.56 +/- 4.92 vs 23.10 +/- 4.38, P = 0.032) for women aged 36-40 years. However, there was no significant difference between mean BMI +/- SD of UL patients aged 21-25 years and their age-matched controls (21.15 +/- 2.70 vs 22.91 +/- 3.30, P = 0.068). The level of significance was selected as P < 0.05. This study has revealed association between overweight (BMI > 25) and incidence of UL among women in Umuahia, Nigeria. It has enabled us to understand more about pathogenesis of UL. Weight reduction, therefore, may reduce the incidence and improve ovarian function.

Dyspepsias among the highlanders of Nigeria: an epidemiological survey.

An epidemiological survey of the dyspepsias in a Nigerian Community drawn from five different local government areas, is described. Analysis of the data obtained from 1,151 respondents (684 males and 467 females) showed that 45.0% of this population had complaints of dyspepsia within the immediate six months period preceeding this study. The relevance of the independent variables as age, sex, marital status, family size, place of abode, number of meals per day, type of staple food consumed, self-medication and presence of melaena stool to the prevalence of dyspepsia was statistically analysed using the Chi-square test method. The family size (P < 0.05), occupational scatter (P < 0.001), type of staple food consumed (P < 0.05), presence of melaena stool (P < 0.01) and indulgence in self-medication (P < 0.001) were found to be the most significant variables. Since the vast majority of subjects with complaints of dyspepsia are to be encountered by general practitioners at the Primary Health Care level, it is hoped that the findings will go a long way towards evolving a more meaningful management strategy for this subset of subjects.