Influence of Consumption of Sweetened Drinks/ Beverages on the Nutritional Status of Primary School Pupils

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of the consumption of sweetened drinks/beverages on the nutritional status of primary school pupils in Lagos State. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. Population comprised 3,945 primary 5 and 6 pupils in the 77 public primary schools in Epe Local Government in the 2021/2022 academic session, while purposive sampling technique was used to select 289 respondents from the population. Structured questionnaire and Body Mass Index (BMI) were the instruments for data collection.  Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while ANOVA and T-test were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance.  Findings of the study revealed that the drinks and beverages commonly consumed by the pupils included soft drinks, yoghurt, fruit juice, ribena and ice cream. Also, drinks and beverages consumption influenced the nutritional status of the pupils; P value (0.75) and (0.20) is greater than alpha (0.05). Furthermore, BMI of the male and female pupils recorded majority of the pupils having normal weight (50% girls and 40% boys), followed by underweight (20% girls and 18% boys), for the pre-obese pupils, (17% are girls and 20% boys). Percentage of the obese pupils was 13% girls and 22% boys.  On the basis of the findings, it was recommended that Nutrition Education should be integrated into the curriculum of primary schools. Also, parents should ensure that their children eat breakfast before going to school daily.