DIETARY HABITS AND IMPACT OF GOOD NUTRITION IN CHILDREN WITH DOWN SYMDROME IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study assessed the dietary habit and impact of good nutrition on children with down syndrome in Obio Akpor Local Government Area in Rivers State. The study was guided by  two research questions and two hypotheses. A descriptive survey design was adopted. All mothers with down syndrome children in Obio Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State formed the population. Purposive sampling was used to select the sample size of 370 for the study. The instruments used for data collection were questionnaire, interview and focus group discussion. The instrument was face validated and the reliability determined using Cronbach Alpha,a reliability coefficient 0.68 was obtained. Data was collected using structured questionnaire and  analyzed using the descriptive analysis (mean and standard deviation). The findings of the study showed that, mothers know the importance of good nutrition to the health of their children. The study also revealed that mothers are aware of nutrition can help enhance the health of the children, but they do not know the essential nutrient that are necessary for children with down syndrome. Based on the findings of the study the following recommendations were made; foods and nutrition counsellors should be recruited in various local government areas to enlighten the mothers of down syndrome children on the importance of nutrition, and how it improves proper functioning of development of the child. Government should sponsor awareness programmes that will assist the parents of the down syndrome children on how to go about the dietary habit of their children.