Descriptive Study of School Feeding Practices in Nigerian Children and the Risk of Dental Caries

Background: Nutrition is important in development, growth and maintenance of overall well being of an individual and plays a significant role in children’s cognitive, behavioural and emotional development. Poor diets may initiate or exacerbate chronic diseases including dental caries which has dietary fermentable carbohydrates as one of its aetiologies.

Objectives: To describe the school feeding practice in Nigerian schools and relate the contents of their lunch boxes to risk of having dental caries and determine the relationship between socioeconomic factors and the content of lunch boxes.

Study Design: This was a descriptive cross sectional study.

Methodology: Multistage sampling technique was used in selecting participants from 12 schools in Southern Nigeria. Information on socio-demographic characteristics and contents of lunch boxes were elicited using structured questionnaires. The contents of lunch boxes were categorized as balanced (cooked meals with vegetables or fruits), overloaded (one cooked meal and snacks) and unbalanced-over loaded (no lunchbox, or greater than one snacks). Information elicited were analyzed using SPSS version 22 and the level of significance was set at <0.05.

Results: There were 152 (49.8%) males and 153 (50.2%) females with a mean age of 10.1 (+2.2) years who participated in the study. One hundred and fifty two (49.8%) pupils brought lunch boxes to school. The category of meals taken during lunch breaks was mostly [157 (51.5%)] unbalanced-overloaded. There were statistically significant associations between the mothers’ occupation (<0.001), number of siblings (p<0.001), type of school (p=0.001) and the presence of lunch boxes. There was also statistically significant association between the types of schools and contents of lunch packs. Multivariate regression analysis showed that age (OR=0.116, CI=0.030-0.447; p=0.002) and number of siblings (OR=0.286; CI=0.097-0.841; p=0.023) were significant predictors of bringing lunch box to school.

Conclusion: Type of school, age of the children, their mothers’ social class/occupation and family size were significantly associated with possessing lunch packs. Their lunch meals were majorly confectioneries thus a high risk to dental caries.