Nutritional Status, Dietary Patterns and Selected Biochemical Indicators among Children and Adolescents with Disabilities in Enugu Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

Children and adolescents with disabilities may be particularly vulnerable to nutritional problems because of functional limitations, feeding difficulties, dependence on caregivers, and socioeconomic constraints. However, disability-specific evidence on nutritional status, dietary diversity, and biochemical indicators remains limited in Nigeria. This study assessed the nutritional status, dietary patterns, and selected biochemical indicators among children and adolescents with disabilities in Enugu Metropolis, Nigeria. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted among 529 children and adolescents aged 5–19 years with disabilities recruited through total enumeration from selected disability homes, centres, and schools in Enugu Metropolis. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, food-frequency questionnaire, 24-hour dietary recall, anthropometric measurements, and biochemical assessments. Dietary diversity was assessed. Biochemical assessments were conducted on a 10% of the sample size, comprising 6 children and 47 adolescents, for fasting blood glucose (FBS), serum zinc, haemoglobin. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation at a significance level of p<0.05.  Of the 529 participants, 151 (28.5%) were children aged 5–9 years and 378 (71.5%) were adolescents aged 10–19 years; 48.2% were male and 51.8% were female. The respondents commonly consumed snacks and pastries, particularly biscuits (22.7%), buns/chin-chin (22.5%) and bread (21.6%); snacks were consumed mainly 1–3 times weekly (37.2%) or occasionally (33.3%). Meal skipping was attributed mainly to lack of appetite (10.4%), hunger (12.1%) and food unavailability (7.9%). Anthropometric measurements were available for 394 participants, comprising 43 children and 351 adolescents. Among children, 18.6% were wasted, 27.9% were stunted, 11.6% were underweight, and 58.1% were overweight based on BMI-for-age. Among adolescents, 49.6% were stunted, 8.5% were underweight, and 34.8% were overweight based on BMI-for-age. More than half of the participants had medium dietary diversity.  Participants assessed biochemically, 7.5% had hypoglycaemia and 1.9% had prediabetes. Zinc deficiency was observed in 94.3% and 17.0% had anaemia. Difficulty in daily life activities was positively correlated with serum zinc concentration (r = 0.511, p < 0.001), while Visual impairment was also positively correlated with haemoglobin concentration (r = 0.271, p = 0.049). There was high prevalence of malnutrition among the study group. Nutritionist and Nutrition Educators should educate the public on the importance of adequate nutrition especially in the early stages of mental development in children so as to boost their development.