Food Security and Hygiene Practice among Adolescent Girls in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Borno State, Nigeria

Abstract

Inadequate food security contributes to poor health outcome for all, including adolescent girls. The study aims at determining the level of food security and hygiene among adolescent girls. A school-based cross-sectional study was carried out among adolescent girls aged 10 to 19 years old from six schools in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Borno State. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire using KoBoCollect Toolbox between June and July 2019. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of food security and hygiene among respondents. A majority of the respondents (73.5%) were in a very low food security level. Three factors were significantly associated with food security level, these included schools (p = 0.007), age of mother (p = 0.004), and occupation of mother (p < 0.001). School (p = 0.003), age (father p = 0.017; mother; p = 0.012), hygiene (p = 0.005), and occupation of mother (p = 0.002) were predictors of food security. About (46.6%) of respondents had poor hygiene practice, school (p = 0.016) was significantly associated with hygiene practice. School (p = 0.019; and p = 0.005) and food security (p = 0.009) were predictors of hygiene practice. This study reveals a high prevalence of low food security among adolescent girls.

Food insufficiency and its associated factors: Experiences of in-school adolescents in Sagamu Township, southwest Nigeria

“…Surprisingly, household size was not associated with food insecurity, a finding contrary to those in existing literature (Drammeh et al, 2019). It was however similar to findings from previous studies in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria (Shapu et al, 2020) and Pakistan (Sheikh et al, 2019).…”

“…The proportion of adolescents who experienced hunger and reported having no food of any kind in the house was quite high, an indication that severe forms of food insecurity and hunger may be more prevalent than is assumed in previous literature (Fraval et al, 2019; Elgar et al, 2021). The proportion was however much lower than findings from previous studies among in-school adolescents in Maiduguri, northern Nigeria (Shapu et al, 2020), Ghana (Seidu et al, 2020; Masa et al, 2021) and Southeast Asian countries (Peltzer & Pengpid, 2017). The observed disparities may be due to the additional stress and disruption of socioeconomic activities caused by insurgency and terrorism in the northeastern parts of Nigeria as well as differences in the measurement scales used.…”

“…The first section obtained information on the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents. The second section contained the nine-item Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and other questions adapted from previous research works (Shapu et al, 2019; Sholeye et al, 2021). The third section obtained information on the lifestyle and behavioral characteristics of participants.…”

“…Very few studies have determined the prevalence of food insecurity among adolescents in Nigeria (Ijarotimi & Erota, 2018). Although researchers in Borno, north-eastern Nigeria assessed female adolescents” menstrual hygiene in addition to their food security status (Shapu et al, 2020), none has studied this large number of male and female adolescents, identifying behavioral and social factors associated with food insecurity. This study is particularly relevant in low-resource settings like southwestern Nigeria, where data and research evidence about adolescents” food insecurity are scarce and most needed.…”

Determinants Affecting Mariyai Village Housewives' Practice of Food Sanitation Hygiene

“…In line with previous research in both areas (urban and rural) Rourkela City, Sundargarh District, Odisha which also stated that employment status had no relationship with housewife hygiene practices 17 . Contrary to other results from previous research in Nigeria which revealed that mother's work is related to the level of food security 18 . The conditions found based on the results of the study, both housewives who have other jobs or not, equally apply good food sanitation hygiene.…”