Background: Malnutrition is a major public health issue in most parts of the developing world because it is associated
with increased morbidity and mortality in children. It also affects the academic performance of children and prevents
children from fully benefiting from education. Our aim was to assess the nutritional status of apparently healthy school
children in a rural community in Imo State, Nigeria.
Method: The study involved a cross sectional survey of 284 primary school children in a rural community in Imo State,
Nigeria.
Results: The prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting in the study population was 37.3%, 26.4% and 3.5%
respectively. The prevalence of underweight malnutrition was more in Males (30.5%) than in females (21.8%). This
difference was however not statistically significant.
Conclusion: The high prevalence of stunting and underweight malnutrition in this study is worrisome. Therefore, there
is need to strengthen the school feeding programme.