ABSTRACT

Dietary practice is the outward demonstration of nutritional knowledge and this knowledge prepares one for a meaningful dietary practice. Nutritional knowledge has been proven to play a vital role in adopting optimal nutrition practices in the health of adolescent girls. The general objective of this study was to assess the lifestyle patterns and nutritional status of adolescent girls in Isi Uzo local government area of Enugu state. A cross-section  design was used the study, 391 adolescent girls were selected using a structured questionnaire and focus discussion technique, the data were collected using a questionnaire and the data was analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency and percentages.From the result, the socio-demographic characteristics of the adolescent girls showed that out of 391 adolescent girls interviewed 15.09% were between ages of 10-12 years,  23.02% were between 13-15 years and majority (61.89%) of the respondents were between the ages of 16-19 years. The result showed that 20.46% of the respondents were married, 0.51% were widowed, 0.46% were separated while 0.26% were divorced and majority (74.17%) of the respondents were single. The result also showed that 5.11% of the respondents had no formal education, 7.67% finished primary school, and 30.69% finished secondary school while majority 56.52% attended tertiary institution. The result of the Lifestyle Pattern showed that majority 93.86% of the respondents engage in physical activities,  majority 71.87% take soft drink, majority 74.68% ate twice a day, majority 93.86% of the respondents do not skip meals while only 6.16% skip meals. The result showed that 17.39% of the respondents consume nuts and seeds once weekly, 22.25% 2 times weekly, 29.41% 3-4 times weekly, while (20.20%) for 5-6 times weekly and 10.74%) for 7 times weekly. The result showed that 17.14% of the respondents consume butter once weekly, 19.69% 2 times weekly, 28.90% 3-4 times weekly, while 23.02% for 5-6 times weekly and 11.25% for 7 times weekly. The result of the importance of calcium in the body showed that majority 92.07% admits it helps in building strong bones and teeth, the dietary source of fibre showed that majority 86.96% of the respondents admits fruits and vegetables. Based on findings of this study, it can be concluded that meal skipping, particularly of breakfast, was the main unhealthy eating habit observed among adolescent girls in Isi Uzo LGA. It can also be concluded from this study that majority of respondents were within the normal range of nutritional status (i.e. BMI for age and the height for age). More education should also be geared towards enhancing good dietary practices and nutritional status among adolescent girls to prevent them from adverse nutritional deficits and complications prior to and during pregnancy.