Intestinal Parasitic Infection and Body Mass Index among School Children in Oshodi Lagos Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Intestinal parasitic infections are still major public health problems in the world, particularly in developing countries. These parasitic infections have adverse effect on the health status of individuals particularly children. Objective: The study is designed to determine the effect of nutritional status on the prevalence of intestinal parasites among the school children in Oshodi, Lagos State Nigeria between June and August 2014. Methods: A total of consented 386 from seven public primary schools in Oshodi, 169 (43.8%) boys and 217 (56.2%) girls school children provided stool samples, their height and weight measured to calculate the body mass index (BMI) for the evaluation of the nutritional status of children and questionnaire were given to be completed. Their ages were between 3-14 years. Stool samples collected were examined using direct wet mount and the formal ether concentration technique. The BMI was classified based on children with normal weight and those that are under weight. Results: Three species of intestinal parasitic infections were identified with overall prevalence of 58.3%. The predominant parasites were Entamoeba histolytica (35.8%), Entamoeba coli (22.0%) and Ascaris lumbricoides (5.1%). The prevalence among sex is 25.1% in males and 33.2 % in females. The children with normal weight were 8.8%, while underweight were 91.2%. The relationship between infectivity and BMI was determined as normal weight 1.3%, P= 0.654 and under weight 57% P= 0.845, (P> 0.05). Conclusion and Recommendations: This study has shown that intestinal parasitic infections are prevalent and have adverse effect on nutritional status of children in Oshodi, and there is need for improved nutritional, personal and environmental hygiene of these children so as to reduce the infection rate.