Nutrient Intakes of Adolescent Girls in Secondary Schools and Universities in Abia State of Nigeria

Abstract

A total of 160 adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 years were surveyed for nutrient intake. Three-days weighed food intake was the technique used for this study. Subjects were from model secondary schools and universities in Abia State, Nigeria. The values for food nutrients were calculated using food composition tables. Foods that were not in the food composition tables were analyzed chemically in the laboratory to know their nutrient contents. Values from the chemical analysis were used for the calculation of food nutrients. The mean intakes in all the nutrients tested for adolescent female university students were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of adolescent female secondary school girls. Both adolescent female secondary school and university students, however, had nutrient intakes higher than FAO requirements except for iron intake where the secondary school girls did not meet the requirement for iron (36-42 g/day). Snacks contribution to the daily nutrient intakes of the adolescent female secondary school students were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of the university students except for the carbohydrate intake (146.66 g vs 170.26 g) respectively. It is therefore necessary to evaluate the quality of meals and snacks served to both secondary school and university students to know their contribution to nutrient intake in order to alleviate the problem of malnutrition in adolescent female Nigerian students.