Evaluation of the School Environment of Public and Private Schools in Enugu to Ensure Child Health Promotion.

OBJECTIVES: Poor maintenance of school environment can cause or worsen illnesses among schoolchildren. The objective of this study was to assess the healthfulness of school environments of primary schools in Enugu East, Nigeria, and to compare the difference if any between public and private schools. STUDY DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional noninterventional study of the school environments in Enugu East, Nigeria. METHODS: Multistage sampling method was used to select the sample population. The participating schools were inspected and their head teachers were interviewed using a questionnaire. Scores were awarded using the School Health Program Evaluation scale. Results: Thirty-three schools were studied. The most common source of water for most schools was well. Eleven schools dump refuse openly. Three public schools only had functional toilets. All public schools were adequately ventilated and lit. One private school had a foodservice area. Ten schools did not have a play field, while three public schools had soaps for handwashing. The mean scores for public and private schools were 33.00 and 37.86, respectively. Three schools only attained the minimum score of 57 of a maximum of 66. CONCLUSION: The environment of primary schools in Enugu east, Nigeria, is unhealthy and unfriendly and currently cannot promote and protect the health of the schoolchildren.

Mothers perception of sexuality education for children.

BACKGROUND: Sexuality education is the process of acquiring information and forming attitudes and beliefs about sex, sexual identity, relationships and intimacy. It develops young people's skills so that they make informed choices about their behaviour, and feel confident and competent about acting on these choices. It also equips children to face developmental challenges and empowers them against the ills of abuse, exploitation, unwanted pregnancies amongst others. Mothers who are the primary caregivers should be well informed about sexuality issues. The objective of the study is to determine mothers' perception of sexuality education in children, in Port Harcourt. METHODOLOGY: A structured, anonymous and self-administered questionnaire, used as instrument for data collection, was distributed amongst a convenient sample of women attending a Christian women's convention in Port Harcourt. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty eight women participated in the study. Most of them were married (80.4%), and belonged to the 30-49 years age bracket. Seventy one (44.9%) of the respondents had tertiary education. Over 80% agreed that children needed sexuality education but only 15 women (9.5%) had a good knowledge of the concept of sexuality education. One hundred and eleven (70.2%) believed it was the responsibility of both parents to educate their children and over 70% acknowledged that the home was the best place for such education. 64 (40.5%) believed that 6-10 years was the ideal age for starting sex education while 49% thought that the ideal age was 11-15 years. 65% of respondents discussed sexuality issues with their children at least occasionally, the content mostly involved description of body parts and reproductive organs. The average age of menarche amongst respondents was 14.0. One hundred (63%) of the women had prior knowledge of menstruation before menarche. About half of them had received information from their mothers. CONCLUSION: The study highlights the need for enlightenment of women on sexuality education to enable them empower their against the ills of child abuse.

Evaluation of Health Knowledge of Teachers in Public Primary Schools in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State

Background: The noncompulsory nature of health education as a subject in some teacher training colleges and the generalists' position of teachers in primary schools raise concern over the teachers' health knowledge and the accuracy of health information that pupils are given. Aim: The study was undertaken to evaluate the health knowledge of primary school teachers and to assess the effect of short term training on their health knowledge. Methods: This was a school-based intervention study carried out in June 2006. Health knowledge of all teachers from the 20 public primary schools in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State was assessed before and after a workshop on school health using a health knowledge assessment test. Scores of 50and more were regarded as pass. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 11 software. Test for statistical significance was done using Chi-square test and student t-test. P value less than 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant. Results: Twenty nine of the 100 participants (29) passed the pre-test. These were holders of University degrees [13 (56.5)]; National Certificate of Education [13 (28.3)] and Teachers' Grade II Certificate (TCII) [3(10)]. Post workshop; health knowledge improved across board as all the teachers passed (p=0.000). Conclusion: The health knowledge of school teachers from public primary schools in Bonny local government area is low. This was worse among those with lower academic qualifications (TCII and below). However this improved following a short term training workshop

Seasonality and other variation trends in birth weights of 4000g and above: A preliminary report from the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Anecdotal evidence appears to suggest a progressive increase in the proportion of large babies born at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Nigeria. The objective of this study is to examine retrospectively the profile of birth weights at the UPTHover a defined time frame. METHODS: The birth weights of all babies born in the hospital from January 1, 1990 to December 31, 1999 were analyzed with the focus on weights = 4000g. The ten-year period was elongated into 20 six-monthly observation points and the periodic fluctuations in the proportion of birth weights = 4000g smoothed by using exponentially weighted moving averages with a weighting factor of 0.18. Seasonal variations in rates of birthweight = 4000g were calculated using Ratchet Circular Scan Test for a short seasonal peak. Proportions were compared using chi-square statistic. RESULTS: Fourteen thousand three hundred and seven birth weights were recorded; 7111 males and 7196 females. Nine hundred and four (12.7%) and 434 (6.0%) of males and females respectively were 4000g and above. There was a sustained increase in the proportion of the = 4000g category during the observation period although the slope was steeper among the males (slope with [95% Confidence Interval] for males = 0.4131 [0.3213 to 0.5050] and for females 0.1801 [0.05565 to 0.3045]. There was a significant 3-month peak August to October of males only of birth weight = 4000g, (3-month peak; August to October, 30.3% of events. Test Statistic 3.46, p < 0.005). CONCLUSION: There has been a steady increase in the proportion of babies of birth weight =4000g at the UPTH in the ten-year period studied. This trend could be potentially dangerous for both mother and baby; therefore the authors believe it would be a good idea to carry out a prospective investigation along similar lines but using a much broader study base.