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Nutritional Program to Elevate Birthweight
CONTEXT AND STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM |
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CONTEXT AND STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM This study focused on the use of a nutritional education program to elevate the birthweight of infants born to a sample of already pregnant Nigerian females. However, before going into the study, it is necessary to show that there is indeed a need for such a program in Nigeria; this because it has been recognized in recent years that birthweight and growth standards based on children of European origin or ancestry may not be appropriate in evaluating the birthweight and growth of children of different ethnic origin (Wanke, 1992). Knowledge of what is a normal birthweight as well as what is normal growth is important to health workers, particularly those concerned with implementing programs of nutrition education in developing countries. One study which does establish that birthweight is generally lower in Nigeria was conducted by Wanke (1980), who examined the birthweights of Nigerian infants by gathering anthropometric growth data on exactly-known-age Hausa children from birth to 17 years for boys and to age 13 for girls. Data were collected for weight, height, sitting height, biacromial and biiliac widths, calf and upper arm circumferences, triceps skinfolds and mid-arm muscle circumferences. The findings were then compared to reported values for other Nigerians, West Africans, Afro-Americans and British boys and girls. The Hausa were found to have a mean birthweight decidedly below the Br
two demographic factors that jeopardize pregnancies of Third World women, primarily because they are associated with a lack of knowledge about health and nutrition. Moreover, once the baby is born, poverty and under-education are said to result in Third World mothers' failure to provide stimulation sufficiently adequate for sound cognitive growth. Thus, to the extent that Nigeria may be legitimately characterized as "Third World" there is the possibility that these findings hold for them.
Age is another factor that can jeopardize the pregnancies of Third World females, mostly through low-birth weight complications. In this regard, Serenius, Edenessee and Swailen (1988) found that the younger the women, the less likely they are to have prenatal care and, therefore, the more likely they are to have low-birth weight infants. It was further found that teenage females and females over the age of 35 were particularly susceptible to low birth-weight complications.
This finding that Third World females are more susceptible to the contribution of age to problematic pregnancies could be the result of an age/educational level interaction; this possibility is based on findings observed in a study of Saudi women conducted by Fakhr,
Category: Medical - N
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Third World, Afro-Americans Birthweights, Allgeier Allgeier, Grove Carpenter, Care PHC, Belief Model, Education Workshop, Education Countries, Nigeria Specifically, Scope Issue, third world, nutrition education, health care, nutritional education, education programs, world women, third world women, third world females, world females, world countries, third world countries, infant mortality, low birth-weight, nutrition education programs, pregnant third world,
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