Objective: To determine the nutritional status and nutrient intake of presc
hool children in a sub-Sahelian setting so as to ascertain whether they mee
t the acceptable standards.
Design: Prospective/investigative study.
Setting: The study was carried out in Saboba, a rural sub-Sahelian village
in northern Ghana,
Subjects: Five hundred and eighteen preschool children (2.5 - 6 years) draw
n from three kindergartens and five other localities were used,
Intervention: Anthropometric measures of age, weight, and height were asses
sed. Blood and stool samples were taken for analyses.
Results: The nutritional status was generally poor, with 27% (140/519) stun
ted, 4.4% (23/519) wasted and 1.9% (10/519) wasted and stunted. Majority of
the children (92%) were anaemic and 16.3% had deficient level of vitamin A
(<10 mu g/dL), Total caloric intake was low (only 26.5% met RDA values) an
d apart from protein and iron whose RDA were met by the majority of the chi
ldren (> 90%), the intake of other nutrients-calcium, vitamin C, vitamin A
and provitamin A, were low and unacceptable, compared to their respective R
DA values, In the case of iron, even though intake was adequate, the high a
naemic rate of 92% was due to high incidence of malaria (32%), hookworm inf
estation, low intake of vitamin C and low bioavailability of iron from the
mainly cereal diet.
Conclusion: The poor nutritional status of the children was largely due to
the low intake of essential nutrients.