ABSTRACT

Major eating habit, widely acknowledged to be associated with such poor dietary habits is meal skipping. Meal skipping has been widely documented among various populations within the West African sub-region, particularly among inschool adolescents and undergraduate students . The study examined meal skipping pattern among secondary school students in Ikwuano Local Government Area. Abia State. Two hundred and sixteen respondents were selected using simple random sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was also used to determine their socio-economic status and dietary pattern. Body Mass Index status of respondents were calculated using weight and height measures. Results showed that majority (74.1%) of the respondents were females. More than half (58.8%) of the respondents were aged 14-16 years while 10.2% were aged 10-13 years. Less than fifty percent (47.2%) were in family of between 4-6 persons while 17.6% were in a family of 1-3 persons. Approximately 53% of the fathers were farmers while 1.4% were missionaries. Less than half (43.1%) of the respondents’ mothers were traders while only 1.4% were missionaries. Approximately (56%) ofthe respondents are satisfied with their eating habits. The study showed that (39.4%) of the respondents occasionally skip meals. The study revealed that more than half (62.5%) of the respondents skip breakfast while few (4.6%) skip dinner. The results showed that 17.6% skipped breakfast because they were too late to school. Based on the nutritional status of respondents majority (75.5%) of the respondents had normal height-for-age, (20.8%) mild stunting while few (3.7%) were moderately stunted. The result for BMI-for-age showed that approximately 75% of the respondents were normal, (14.4%) were overweight while 10.2% of them were moderately thin. The study showed that (5.9%) of the respondents that skipped breakfast on daily basis were moderately stunted compared to those that skipped breakfast occasionally (5.3%).Whereas none ofthe respondents that never skipped breakfast had mild stunting, those who skipped breakfast either daily (21.6%), 2 times per week (21.1%), 3 times per week (22.7%) and occasionally (19.7%) all manifested different degrees of mild stunting. Meals skipping among secondary school students has become a general phenomenon due to unavailability offood and no time to cook.