IMPACT OF NUTRITION EDUCATION ON KNOWLEDGE OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN RURAL BAYELSA COMMUNITY

Abstract

Abstracts
Childhood obesity has become one of the most prevalent chronic health problems affecting young people globally, posing serious health risks for affected children that can lead to long-term health complications. The study examined the impact of Basic Nutrition Education Package on knowledge of predisposing factors, health implications and prevention of childhood obesity among primary school teachers in rural Bayelsa community. The pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group quasi-experimental design was used for this study. The population of study comprised all the teachers in both public and private primary schools in Amassoma community in Bayelsa State. Since the population was manageable, the whole population of 86 teachers were used as sample for the study. Respondents were randomly selected and assigned into two groups (experimental group and control group) for the study. The instrument used for collection of data was a self-developed, and validated questionnaire. The content and face validity of the instrument was determined by three professional public health educators. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was 0.87 and established through the test-retest reliability method. Data was collected from the respondents through a three-step process. The pre-test and post-test scores of both the experimental and control groups were analyzed using inferential statistics of Analysis of Covariance through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 30. Multiple Classification Analysis was also carried out to determine the direction of impact of the Basic Nutrition Education Package on the group. The findings revealed that, the Basic Nutrition Education Package had significant impact on knowledge of predisposing, health implications and preventive measures of childhood obesity among the participants. Based on the findings, it was recommended that, the school health programme in the State Ministry of Education be reinforced and made viable to routinely carry out school health education enlightenment programmes that are focused on nutrition literacy, childhood nutritional problems including obesity.