ASSESSMENT OF NUTRITIONAL EDUCATION KNOWLEDGE AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN ILARO, OGUN STATE

Abstract

Today many people are paying considerable attention to what they eat because food intake is closely related to health and a sense of well-being. Recent surveys have shown that prevalence of malnutrition is common among preschool children both in public and private schools due to inadequate knowledge about nutrition. This study was carried out to assess the nutrition education knowledge among primary school teachers in Ilaro Ogun State ,Nigeria. One hundred teachers from various schools were randomly selected for the survey. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio demographic characteristics. Knowledge of nutrition concepts was assessed and scored on twenty-one nutrition knowledge questions. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics of chi- square. Result showed that 55% of the respondents had knowledge of nutrition while 37% of the respondents got their nutrition information from a nutrition newsletter. Findings indicate that higher percentage of the respondents (95%) were knowledgeable on concepts of nutrition as probed and no significant association was observed between the overall nutritional knowledge and other variables (p>0.05). It was concluded that majority of the respondents interviewed were knowledgeable; they used oral and teaching aids to teach nutrition. We therefore recommend that Curriculum planners need to include more food based topics in the existing subjects that are means of nutrition information in primary schools, this could be meaningful by using adequate teaching aids such as posters and games (practical). Government and parents should encourage and fund school lunch programs, which could be an excellent medium for nutrition education in primary schools.