6861 Parents’ knowledge of nutrition and the prevalence of obesity in school aged children in a local government area in Lagos state, Nigeria

Objectives Childhood Obesity is a condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child's health or well-being. With the rising prevalence of obesity in children round the world, and its many adverse health effects, it is now recognised as a serious public health concern. The nutritional knowledge of parents/carers determines the type and quantity of food offered to the children. With the paucity of data on childhood Obesity in Nigeria, The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional status of the children and prevalence of Obesity among them to assess the nutritional knowledge of the parents/carers of these children to determine if there was a significant relationship between those children with Obesity and the knowledge of nutrition in their parents. Methods A cross- sectional Study was carried out with 300 children of school age ( aged 5 to 10 years), and their parents, using multi-stage sampling techniques, in October 2017. Pre-tested interview administered questionnaires were used in another location before the actual study. Each child's height and weight were measured and the BMI was calculated using the formula weight (kg)/height (m2) then these values were plotted against age appropriate charts. The data was analysed with Epi info and the Level of Significance was set at <0.005. Results The prevalence of Obesity amongst the children who participated in the study was 9.3%- 16.9% were underweight, 62.8% fell within normal weight range, 11% were overweight and 9.3% were obese. 38.9% – a minority of the respondents had a good knowledge of nutrition, while the majority of them (61.1%) had a poor knowledge of nutrition. There was a statistically significant relationship between the respondents nutritional knowledge and the BMI of their children. Conclusion Despite the various socio-demographic variations, with differences in age, social class, occupation and marital status, only a minority of the parents had a good knowledge of nutrition. More (60.8%) parents had a knowledge of factors associated with Obesity in children. There was a statistically significant relationship between the mother's educational status, monthly income and the knowledge of factors associated with Obesity. There was also a statistically significant relationship between parents knowledge of BMI and their children's Body Mass Index. There is a need to increase education of parents about healthy nutrition for their children and the complications of Childhood Obesity.