Knowledge And Attitude Of Adolescent Girls Aged 10 To 19 Years Towards Micronutrient Supplementation In Aba South Local Government Area, Abia State:- Umenyi, Chidimma J

ABSTRACT Micronutrient deficiencies remain a major public health concern among adolescents, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This study assessed the knowledge and attitudes of adolescent girls aged 10-19 years toward micronutrient supplementation in Aba South Local Government Area, Abia State. A descriptive cross-sectional design was employed with 204 adolescent girls selected through a multi-stage sampling technique. The Local Government was stratified into urban and rural areas with three towns from each. Data were collected using a validated semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed with IBM SPSS version 27, employing descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and Pearson correlation. The mean age ofthe respondents was 14.31 ± 2.59 years. Findings shows that early Adolescent (10-14 years) had 44.2% of good knowledge and 70.8% of poor knowledge while the late adolescent (15-19 years) had 55.8% ofgood knowledge and 29.2% of poor knowledge. In general, 76.5% of the girls had good knowledge of micronutrient supplementation, while 23.5% had poor knowledge. Awareness ofspecific nutrients was low, as only 24.5% identified the function of iron as preventing anaemia and 29.4% recognized the effect of folic acid deficiency. 34.8% had a positive attitude while 65.2% had a negative attitude. Statistical analysis revealed significant associations (p<0.05) between age, education, and knowledge levels. Correlation analysis also showed statistical significant (p< 0.05) between Age, knowledge and attitude. The study concludes that while adolescent girls in Aba South LGA possess encouraging levels of awareness and knowledge of micronutrient supplementation, this has not fully translated into positive attitudes. Strengthening school-based nutrition education, correcting misinformation, and engaging caregivers and community stakeholders are essential to improve adolescent nutrition and health outcomes.