Socio-Economic Differentials In Height, Weight And Body Mass Index Of School Adolescents In Nnewi, South-Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Aim: To examine the influence of and socioeconomic indices on anthropometric parameters of student adolescents in Nnewi, South-Eastern Nigeria.Subjects and Methods: Four thousand and seventy-eight student adolescents, aged 11-18 years, participated in this study. Age and gender of the participants as well as parents’ socioeconomic indices were collected. Weight and height were measured using standard procedures while BMI was calculated. Results: Male adolescents in private and public school had significant difference in their heights (p<.05) whereas their female counterparts had significant differences (p<.05) in their heights and weights. Parent’s occupation significantly influenced only the height of female adolescents while there were significant influences (p<.05) of parent’s education on only height and weight of each of male and female adolescents. Conclusion: The adolescents attending private school are taller than their counterparts in public schools. Highest educational attainment of the parents influence their height and weight whereas body mass index of adolescents are different only in female by the type of school attended and highest educational attainment whereas occupation influence only height of female adolescents.