ASSESSMENT OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF TWO SELETED TSANGAYA SCHOOLS IN KATSINA METROPOLIS. PROJECT DEFENCE PRESENTATION BY HAMZA IBRAHIM (U1/13/BCH/2024) UMARU MUSA YAR’ADUA UNIVERSITY, KATSINA FACULTY OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES, DEPARTMENT OF BIOCHEMISTRY. January, 2018.

Introduction Nutrition is a science that examines the relationship between diet and health. (Lieberman S et al., 1990). Nutritional status is defined as the condition of the body resulting from the intake, absorption and utilization of food (Joshi et al., 2011)

Introduction cont. Nutritional assessment is the method of monitoring changes in the nutritional status of a population over a period of time (Srilakshmi 2002) Therefore, it is imperative to find out the nutritional status of two selected Tsangaya school in Katsina metropolis.

Introduction cont. Al-majiri (Tsangaya students) is derived from an Arabic word “Almuhajirun” meaning emigrant in search of knowledge. In Nigeria, Al-majirai are usually children aged between years and sometimes older who left their homes mostly rural areas under the guidance of an adult to stay in major towns (Hudu et al., 2011).

Justification Chronic under nutrition in childhood is linked to slower cognitive development (Prakash et al., 2016) Today, in Nigeria many young children (including Almajiri) engage in various activities that take them away from home. Dietary intake affects all age groups, but almajiri tend to be among those most at risk of developing deficiencies because they have no choice for their dietary intake. In view of the that, this study is attempts to determine the nutritional status of two selected Tsangaya school in Katsina Metropolis.

The Aim of the Study The main aim is to determine the nutritional status of the Tsangaya students (almajiri) from two selected school in Katsina metropolis.  The Specific Objectives are To measure anthropometric measurement of Tsangaya students. To provide necessary information for the policy makers in the field of food and nutrition.

Materials and Methods Materials used include Weighing scale Stadiometer Structured questionnaire Method used Anthropometric Measurements 24 hour dietary recall

Materials and Methods Sampling Technique A comprehensive list of all the wards in Katsina local government was collected from the local government secretariat. Two wards were selected based on location (rural or urban). A total of 113 students were selected for the study out of which 100 have complete data. Only those with complete data were included in the study analysis.

Statistical Analysis Data obtained were analyzed using GraphPad Software, Inc Result were generally expressed as mean + S.D Data were subjected to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). P>0.05 were considered significant.

Result Age (years)BMI(kg/m 2 )WHO cut-off points UrbanRural (18.5 to 24.9kg/m²) 6 – 7 (n=13) 8 – 9 (n=15) 10-11(n=23) 12-13(n=20) 14-15(n=18) (n=9) 16.78± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± 0.78 ˂˂˂˂˂≥˂˂˂˂˂≥ Table 1 Showed the BMI(kg/m 2 ) of almajirai compared WHO cut of points Values are subjects according to age grouping and location, and expressed as Mean ± SD and significantly different (p > 0.05)

Result Table 2 shown the percentage of foods consumed by Tsangaya students 24 hours recall Food categorySchool at Urban Setting (%) School at Rural Setting (%) Whole school (%) Cereals Roots & Tubers Legumes Vegetables Milk & products Meat and Fish Fruits

Discussion of Result Table 1 showed the rural Tsangaya students had a significantly (p<0.05) higher BMI than the urban Tsangaya students and this difference cut across all the age groups. The mean BMI values recorded for both the rural and urban students correspond to mild thinness on the BMI reference data (Ijarotimi, et al., 2003). The mean BMI for both the urban and rural Tsangaya students in this study is in accordance with studies carried out in other parts of Nigeria [(Yar’adua et al., 2015) (Shuaibu et al., 2014), (Yusuf et al., 2013), (Nwokoro et al., 2006), (Ijarotimi et al., 2003), (Cole et al., 2002,)]

Discussion of Result Table 2 shows percentage subjects with frequent consumption of cereals (67.1%), roots & tubers (10.1%), legumes (21.1%), vegetables (16.4%), milk & products (3.1%), meat and fish (3.4%), and fruits (4.1%). The percentage of daily recall consumption of food groups among the Tsangaya students of urban and rural is very less in all food groups except cereals and legumes. Our study is similar with (Washi et al., 2010) who concluded that there was inadequate consumption of all food groups especially for green leafy vegetables, roots and tubers, fruits and milk among 500 adolescent boys (10-18 years) of Marathawada region (Twara et al., 2015).

Conclusion From this study, it is evident that the problem of the tsangaya students under-nutrition is negligible as more than a half of the study respondents had a low BMI, especially those that are at urban setting. This points to the fact that almajirai nutrition in the study area needs greater attention. It conclude that the intake of the students in so many food group was very low.

Recommendation Result clearly shows a need for government and other stake holders to develops nutrition education program and policies related to nutrition. We recommend that similar study should be conducted in public and private schools patronized by children of middle and high income groups.