Stunting adversely affects the physical and mental outcome of children. The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of and risk factors associated with stunting among urban school children and adolescents in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Five hundred and seventy children aged 5-19 years were selected using the multi-stage random-sampling technique. Stunting was defined as height-for-age z-score (HAZ) of <-2 standard deviation (SD) of the National Center for Health Statistics reference. Severe stunting was defined as HAZ of <-3 SD. The mean age of the children was 12.2+3.41 years, and 296 (51.5%) were males. Ninety-nine (17.4%) children were stunted. Of the stunted children, 20 (22.2%) were severely stunted. Identified risk factors associated with stunting were attendance of public schools (p<0.001), polygamous family setting (p=0.001), low maternal education (p=0.001), and low social class (p=0.034). Following multivariate analysis with logistic regression, low maternal education (odds ratio=2.4; 95% confidence interval 1.20-4.9; p=0.015) was the major contributory factor to stunting. Encouraging female education may improve healthcare-seeking behaviour and the use of health services and ultimately reduce stunting and its consequences.

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Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is on the increase globally with a high prevalence in children and adults with chronic illnesses. Many studies have evaluated the epidemiology of medicine use for children in developing countries but none has evaluated the use of CAM for children with chronic illnesses. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the prevalence, pattern of use, parental sources of information, perceived benefits, cost, and adverse effects of CAM in children with epilepsy, sickle cell anaemia and asthma in Lagos, Nigeria.

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) may cause prolonged hospital admissions with high treatment costs. The burden of ADRs in children has never been evaluated in Nigeria. The incidence of pediatric ADRs and the estimated cost of treatment over an 18-month period were determined in this study. DESIGN AND SETTING:Prospective observational study on children admitted to the pediatric wards of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Nigeria, between July 2006 and December 2007. METHODS:Each patient was assessed for ADRs throughout admission. Medical and non-medical costs to the hospital and patient were estimated for each ADR by reviewing the medical and pharmacy bills, medical charts and diagnostic request forms and by interviewing the parents. Cost estimates were performed in 2007 naira (Nigeria currency) from the perspectives of the hospital (government), service users (patients) and society (bearers of the total costs attributable to treating ADRs). The total estimated cost was expressed in 2007 United States dollars (USD). RESULTS:Two thousand and four children were admitted during the study; 12 (0.6%) were admitted because of ADRs and 23 (1.2%) developed ADR(s) during admission. Forty ADRs were suspected in these 35 patients and involved 53 medicines. Antibiotics (50%) were the most suspected medicines. Approximately 1.83 million naira (USD 15,466.60) was expended to manage all the patients admitted due to ADRs. CONCLUSIONS:Treating pediatric ADRs was very expensive. Pediatric drug use policies in Nigeria need to be reviewed so as to discourage selfmedication, polypharmacy prescription and sales of prescription medicines without prescription. CONCLUSÕES: O tratamento das RAD pediátricas foi bastante caro. As políticas de uso de drogas em pediatria na Nigéria devem ser revistas para desencorajar a auto-medicação, a prescrição de polifarmácia e a venda de medicamentos de prescrição sem prescrição.

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