Double Burden of Malnutrition: Evidence from a Selected Nigerian Population

Abstract EN

Indices reflecting the double burden of malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa are increasing.

Evidence to support this claim in households of Africa’s most populous country—Nigeria—is scant.

This study, therefore, presents results from a study of mother-child pairs sampled from Akwa Ibom State in the southern region of Nigeria.

Anthropometric measures for 660 mother-child pairs were collected according to standard procedures.

Indices were expressed as the standard deviation of units from the median for the reference group.

Chi-square analysis was used to test significant differences in proportion, and p<0.05 was taken as significant.

A total of 37.4% of the children were stunted out of which 19.8% were moderately stunted, and 17.6% were severely stunted.

Prevalence of wasting was 13.1%, 6.2% were moderately wasted, and 6.9% were severely wasted.

Mean maternal body mass index was (23.54 ± 4.60) kgm2.

9.0% were underweight mothers, 23.2% were overweight, and 9.3% were obese.

The co-existence of undernutrition among children and overnutrition in women of child-bearing age is prevalent in this population.

We recommend that more effort be placed on active nutrition surveillance to ascertain malnutrition prevalence and periodically reassess priority challenges.