Background: Malnutrition is a major public health problem with short and long-term adverse effects on children particularly in middle and low-income countries. Three out of every ten under-five children are said to be stunted and 19.4% underweight in Nigeria. In Ebonyi State, between 2013 and 2015, the proportion of preschool children with chronic undernutrition rose from 16.2 to 20.6%. Little is documented about the nutritional status of school-age children in Ebonyi State and Nigeria. Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among 780 children aged 6 to 12 years from 10 primary schools in Abakaliki metropolis. A multistage sampling method was used to select the participants. A pretested interviewer-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect information from the children and their parents. Body Mass Index (BMI), Z scores of the weight for age, BMI for age and height for age were obtained using the WHO AnthroPlus software. We estimated the prevalence of undernutrition, over-nutrition, underweight, thinness, stunting, overweight and obesity. Result: Out of 751 pupils that participated, 397 (52.9%) were females and 595 (79.2%) were in public schools. The overall prevalence of undernutrition was 15.7% and that of over-nutrition was 2.1%. The prevalence of underweight, thinness and stunting, overweight and obesity were 8, 7.2, 9.9, 1.4 and 0.7% respectively. The proportion of pupils who were thin was higher among males (8.7%), those attending public schools (8.6%) and those dwelling in rural parts of the metropolis (14.3%) compared to females (5.8%) private school attendees (1.9%) and urban dwellers (4.6%). Stunting was found to be higher among pupils attending public schools (11.8%) compared to those attending private schools (2.5%). The prevalence of stunting was 19.3% among the pupils residing in rural areas and 5% among the pupils living in urban areas of the metropolis. No pupil in private schools was underweight. Overnutrition was not found among the pupils in rural areas. Conclusion: Both under and over nutrition exist in Abakaliki metropolis. Undernutrition is the more prevalent form of malnutrition among school age children in the metropolis.

Objectives: Evidence-based newborn care practice recommended by WHO reduces neonatal mortality and improves neonatal outcomes. This study assessed the knowledge, practice-associated factors and predictors of essential newborn care among post-natal mothers in two primary health care centres in Southeast Nigeria.MethodsDesign: A cross-sectional total population studySetting: Two primary health care centres in two local government areas in Southeast Nigeria.Participants: Post-natal mothers who attended immunisation clinicsData collection: Quantitative data was collected over four weeks from 400 post-natal mothers. Chi-square test and logistic regression were carried out for associations and predictors, respectively. Analytical decisions were taken at p<0.05 and 95% confidence interval.Outcome measures: Knowledge, attitude, the practice of essential newborn care; predictors of practiceFindings: Mean age of participants was 28.68±5.4. The majority (78.9%) had been counselled on newborn care and 85.2% delivered in a formal health facility. The majority (77%) had good knowledge of essential newborn care and practices (61%). More than half (62.3%) reported support from health workers. Predictors of good practice were older age (AOR: 0.435; 95%CI: 0.212-0.893), being married (AOR: 8.095; 95%CI: 3.732-17.558), living in the urban area (AOR: 0.478; 0.291-0.784), and having good knowledge of newborn care (AOR: 0.239; CI: 0.139-0.411).Conclusions: Good practice was identified in the majority. Being married, older, living in urban areas and having good knowledge were predictors of good practice. Health facility delivery, continuous support by health workers and post-natal education to mothers in rural areas are recommended policy priorities.

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Introduction Adequate intermittent preventive treatment (IPTp) uptake (≥3 doses) routinely delivered at antenatal clinics is effective in preventing malaria during pregnancy. Whereas, low IPTp uptake (24.0%) had been reported among pregnant women in Ebonyi State, there is paucity of studies comparing the uptake and its predictors in the urban and rural areas of Ebonyi State. We determined IPTp uptake and its predictors in the urban and rural areas of Ebonyi State. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional comparative study among 864 reproductive age women selected using multistage sampling. Using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire, we collected data on respondent’s socio-demographic characteristics and IPTp uptake. Uptake was adjudged adequate if ≥3 doses were taken, otherwise inadequate. We estimated the proportion of women with adequate IPTp uptake and determined the factors associated with adequate uptake in rural and urban areas using chi square and multiple logistic regression at 5% level of significance. Results The mean ages of respondents in the urban and rural areas were 28.5±4.6 and 27.4±5.0 years respectively. Adequate IPTp uptake was 82.5% and 60.8% in the urban and rural respectively (p<0.001). In the urban area, women whose husbands had attained ≥ secondary education (aOR:2.9; 95%CI:1.2–7.4; p = 0.02) and those who paid for sulfadoxine/pyrimethamime (aOR:0.2; 95%CI: 0.1–0.6; p = 0.01) were 2.9 times more likely and 5 times less likely to take adequate IPTp respectively compared to respondents whose husbands had attained ≤ primary education and those who had sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine free. In the rural area, women who had attended ANC <4 times (aOR:0.4; 95%CI: 0.3–0.7; p<0.001) were 2.5 times less likely to take adequate IPTp compared to women that had attended ANC ≥4 times. Conclusion Uptake of IPTp was more in the urban than rural areas of Ebonyi State. Interventions that reinforce the importance of health professionals carrying out actions aimed at pregnant women and their partners (spousal) in order to guide them on preventive actions against malaria and other diseases are recommended in Ebonyi State.

Aim Antimicrobials are among the most widely prescribed therapeutic agents among paediatric population. Irrational use of these agents increases the risk of antimicrobial resistance. We described the prevalence and pattern of antimicrobial use among paediatric inpatients from 2017 to 2019. Subject and Method The study was a repeated point prevalence survey over a 3-year period using the global point prevalence standardized tools among all paediatric inpatients. The prevalence of antimicrobial use, the prescription indicators and patterns of antimicrobial use were estimated. Result Among 191 paediatric inpatients assessed, the 3-year period prevalence antimicrobial use was 85.9% (164/191) with prevalence of 80.6% in 2017, 94.6% in 2018, and 83.6% in 2019. Antimicrobial agents used ranged from one agent (20.1%) to five different agents (5.5%). Parenteral route (66.6%) was the preferred route of administration. The reason for the use of antimicrobial agents (92.6%) and the stop/review date (99.5%) were mostly well documented. Only 4.5% of the antimicrobial use were targeted. There were no antimicrobial guidelines or policy guiding the use of antimicrobial agents, except the national guideline on the treatment of malaria and tuberculosis. Ceftriaxone, a third generation cephalosporin was the most commonly used agent across the period under review. Community-acquired infection was the commonest indication for antimicrobial use. Conclusion Our findings of high antimicrobial prevalence has raised the attention for the need to develop hospital-based antimicrobial guideline and antimicrobial stewardship program to protect the vulnerable children, their contacts and the environment from the impact of antimicrobial resistance.