ABSTRACT

The study assessed the  knowledge, attitude and  practices of the  nutrient supplementation among women of reproductive age in Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia state. The study  adopted a  cross-sectional descriptive study   design. The target population were  women aged 15-49 years in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State  of which they were selected by multistage sampling technique. Data collection was carried out using a structured   questionnaire with options. Data  were entered and analysed using SPSS version 20. The analysed data was presented as frequency tables. shows that majority (60.0%) of the respondents opines that nutrient supplements  contain one or more dietary ingredients (including vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids and other substances). 17.78%, 12.78% and 7.78% of the respondents identified that nutrient supplements contains only one type of dietary ingredients, nutrient supplements contain on vitamins and nutrient supplements does not contain any dietary ingredients are the composition of nutrients elements. The results shows that majority (67.7%) of the respondents identified that Nutrient supplements comes in different forms including a pill, capsule, tablet, powder or liquid, 24.44% of the respondents identified that nutrient supplements come in only capsule form.  Majority of the respondents also had good knowledge of the forms of nutrient supplements as 67.78% of them indicated that Nutrient supplements comes in different forms including a pill, capsule, tablet, powder or liquid. The results shows that majority (67.78%) of the respondents indicated  that dietary supplements improved  the immune system of women, 17.78%  of the respondents opined that dietary supplements do not have any effect on immune system of women while 11.67% of the respondents opined that dietary supplements reduce  immune system of women. With respect to attitude, 78.89% of the respondents take nutrient supplements only when  they have health challenges. 50% of the women  take nutrient supplements  only prescribed by physicians. The study showed that 92.78% of the women indicated that do not take nutrient supplements if they are not at pregnancy stage. Also 30% of the respondents do not take nutrient supplements at all while 6.67% of the women in the study area take nutrient supplements only for hair fall and skincare control. 80.56% of the respondents take nutrient supplements to boost immunity.  Furthermore, 25.00%, 95.56% and 51.67% indicated  the problems faced by women of child bearing age  in the  assess of nutrient supplements are    non-availability of the required nutrient supplements  at the pharmacy , lack of information   and side effects associated with some nutrient supplements  respectively. Nutrient supplementation among women of reproductive age in Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia state   was constrained by factors  such as high cost, forgetfulness, non-availability, lack of information and initial side effects. Based on these, the respondents  recommended making the food supplements regularly  available in pharmacies and drug stores, increasing the campaign on the types and relevance of food supplements for women of childbearing age as strategies that  will help to improve access of women to Nutrient Supplements  in the study area