PARENTAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS AS A CORRELATE OF PUPILS1 NUTRITION IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN OGBOMOSO, OYO STATE

Nigeria, like other developing countries is undergoing demographic, epidemiological and nutritional transitions due to globalization and economic growth thus making urbanization and increasing income to have impact on health and well-being. Malnourished children are common in poor communities. The objectives of this study was to evaluate the socioeconomic status of parents of pupils in public and private primary schools and to examine the relative contribution of parents socioeconomic status to the type of pupils nutrition in public private primary school in Ogbomoso North Local government area of Oyo State. A nutritional survey was carried out using a self-developed structured questionnaire design in line with the variables to be measured. Closed ended questions were asked and the anthropometric measurements were taken. Two private and two public primary schools were selected in Ogbomoso North Local Government Area. All data were entered into the PASW 18. Frequency, Percentages, Pearson product moment correlation analysis and Independent Test were used to analyze all the data. Socio-economic status of parents significantly influenced the health of their wards in public and private primary schools because the private primary schools have a mean score (M 4.54) which is significantly higher than the score of pupils from public schools (M 2.87). The study revealed that under nutrition is more with pupils from public schools. The mean value indicate that the pupils from nuclear family take better nutrition because their mean score (M 4.72) is significantly higher than the score of pupils from polygamous family (M 3.37). Therefore socio-economic status of parents affects the nutritional status and health of the children. In conclusion, this study shows that malnutrition constituted major health problems among school children in Ogbomoso North Local Government Area, Nigeria. Continuing research is recommended to identify risk groups and monitor healthy growth and development of children of all socioeconomic classes