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Knowledge and attitude are essential components of food security as malnutrition remains a critical public health concern among adolescents. The study evaluates the effectiveness of a Triple Benefit Health Education Intervention on knowledge, attitude and food security towards malnutrition among adolescent girls. This was a cluster randomized controlled trial among 417 randomly selected adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 years old in Maiduguri, Borno state, Nigeria from October 2019 to March 2020. About 208 respondents were assigned to experimental while 209 to control group, respectively, using an opaque sealed envelope. A structured questionnaire using KoBo Collect Toolbox was used for the collection of data at baseline, three and six-months post intervention while the data collected were analyzed using generalized estimating equation (GEE). The outcome of the baseline shows no statistically significant difference in sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude and food security between experimental and control groups. The study reveals a statistically significant difference between experimental and control groups for knowledge (p < 0.001; p < 0.001), attitude (p < 0.001; p < 0.001) and food security (p = 0.026; p = 0.001) at three and six-months post intervention, respectively. The triple benefit health education intervention package employed in this study can serve as an intervention tool to combat malnutrition among adolescent girls in Nigeria at large.

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Article HistoryThis study appraised government feeding programme on increased school enrollment, attendance, retention and completion among secondary school students in Maiduguri, Borno state, Nigeria. Descriptive survey method was the research design adopted for this study. The target population for this study comprised day public secondary schools in Maiduguri, Borno state, with a total population of nine thousand three hundred and thirty eight (9,338) students. The sample of 934 students was selected using simple and stratified random sampling techniques. A self-developed questionnaire was the instrument of data collection. The response mode for the instrument was a modified four points Likert type scale. Descriptive statistics of frequency counts, and percentage scores was used to answer the research question, while Chi-square test was also used to analyze the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that the school feeding programme improved the nutritional health status of the students. The findings recommended that Federal Government should assign Ministry of Finance to perform monitoring and evaluation functions, allocate more funds and logistics and give up-todate records to the state government to make sure the feeding programme achieve an optimal level of the desired objectives. Appraisal tools other than questionnaires should be employed when appraising the students cognitive capabilities in order to ensure effective outcome and reporting. Borno State government Donor agencies, and stakeholders in education should increase funding and make sure the schools have constant supply of food through committed food distribution channels. Individual targeting should be used as a mechanism to motivate enrollment in school or more regular attendance. The target group should be families with children who are not in school or who are frequently absent.Contribution/Originality: This study contributes in the existing literature of Home-grown school feeding programme. This study uses new estimation methodology of descriptive survey method in selecting sample of 934 students was selected using simple and stratified random sampling techniques. This study originates new formula on Descriptive statistics of frequency counts, and percentage scores was used to answer the research question, while Chi-square test was also used to analyze the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. This study is one of very few studies which have investigated the trend of school feed feeding programmes existing in public secondary schools.The paper contributes the first logical analysis using a self-developed questionnaire and response mode for the instrument was a modified four (4) points Likert type scale with a response mode of strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree. The paper's primary contribution is finding that The Federal Government should assign 2017 Vol. 5, No. 9, pp. 138-145 ISSN(e): 2310-3868 ISSN(p): 2311-6897 DOI: 10.18488/journal.61.2017.59.138.145 © 2017 Ministry of Finance t...

Background and Objectives: Diabetes mellitus is currently a major health problem and one of the most common endocrine diseases in the world especially in many developing countries. Treatment of diabetes have always included the administration of insulin and oral hypoglycemic agents in conjunction with lifestyle modifications. These treatments offer effective glycemic control however present limitations. Hence, traditional anti-diabetic plants have become popular in the management of diabetes mellitus. Methodology: Diabetes mellitus was induced in 20 Wistar rats using a single injection of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg) administered intraperitonially. The rats were divided into four groups (3-6) of 5 rats each. Rats in group 3-6 received olive oil, 100mg/kg of extract, 200mg/kg of extract and insulin (6IU/kg), respectively. 10 non-diabetic rats were grouped into 1 and 2. They received olive oil and 200mg/kg of extract, respectively for 28 days. At the end of the study, the pancreas were removed and it was subjected tissue preparation. Results: There was an improvement in the area of pancreatic islets in the groups treated with the extract and insulin. The islet cells in the diabetic group were atrophied with pyknotic and karyolitic cells. The mean number of pancreatic islets, pancreatic diameter and number of beta cells in the extract treated groups were significantly (P<0.05) increased when compared to the untreated diabetic rats. Conclusion: n-haxane extract of Leptadenia hastata was found to have anti-diabetic and hypoglycemic properties and was also shown to improve the number and size of pancreatic islets in treated animals.