Determinants of Food Security in the Home on Nutritional Status of Adolescent Students in Abia, State

Abstract

The study was designed to investigate the determinants of food security in the home and its effect on nutritional status of adolescent’s students in Abia State of Nigeria. Five specific purpose and five null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A survey design was used for the study. 2000 students constituted the population while 500 respondents were the sample for the study. The researcher developed instrument named Food Security variables and Students Nutritional Status Questionnaire (FSVS NSQ) was used for data generation. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and Multiple Regression Analysis were used to analyse the five null hypotheses 1, 4 and 5 respectively at 0.05 alpha level and 498 degree of freedom. The findings revealed that there is joint relationship between food availability acceptability, affordability, sustainability and nutritional status of students in Abia State. Some recommendations were made such as School administration should encourage hand-on experiences in agriculture at all levels, as a means of creating awareness among children of the benefits of food production for improved nutritional status and its resultant effects.