IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences (IOSR-JDMS) e-ISSN: 2279-0853, p-ISSN: 2279-0861.Volume 17, Issue 2 Ver. 4 February. (2018), PP 56-59 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/0853-1702045659 www.iosrjournals.org 56 | Page The Nutritional status of preschool children in urban and rural areas of Benin City, Edo State *Oladimeji O.R 1 ., Falade O. J 2 ., Mukoro U.J. 3 1 College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS), University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone. 2,3 Department of Nursing Science Delta State University, Abraka Delta State, Nigeria *Correspondent Author: O. J. Falade Abstract: The nutritional status of preschool children in urban and rural areas of Benin City, Edo State was investigated. Preschool children aged between 3 and 5 years were selected from nursery schools in urban (n= 150) and rural (n= 150) areas. Nutritional status was assessed using anthropometric measurements of height, weight and arm circumference and was compared with NCHS standards. Dietary assessment was based on weighed inventory method and 24 hours recall obtained from their mothers. The nutrient intakes were compared with the RDA. Validated questionnaires were also used to collect data on their socioeconomic status obtained from the mothers. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 10. There were no significant differences between the males and females in both the rural and urban areas except for the rural males having a significant higher LBM than the females. Using weight-for-age 11.3% and 82% of urban and rural children were underweight. Also 1.33% and 33% were stunted, while 42% and 85% were wasted in the urban and rural schools respectively. The intakes of protein, iron, calcium and vitamin A were inadequate in both groups. Majority of mothers of the preschoolers in urban were educated (70%) and earned a monthly income above N7,000 (84.67%). The findings show that the nutritional status of preschool children in Benin especially in the rural areas was poor and this could be attributed to poverty and poor educational status of the mothers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 26-01-2018 Date of acceptance: 13-02-2018 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction The nutritional status of an individual is the health of an individual as conditioned by the quality of nutrients consumed and the body’s ability to utilize these nutrients to meet its metabolic needs. Thus, the nutritional status of preschool children of a population is generally accepted as an indicator of the nutritional status of the community (1). The preschool children are vulnerable from the nutrition point of view; the main reason being their easy susceptibility to malnutrition and infection (2, 3). Although growth at this period is not as rapid as during infancy period, children in this age group are usually very active and this calls for high nutrient needs; eating habits are also established at this state. Ene Obong (4) further pointed out that it is also during this period that under nutrition in the form of kwashiorkor, marasmus, anaemia and xerophthalmia are common. The assessment of preschool children is therefore of great use in the determination of protein energy malnutrition (PEM). WHO (5) reported that PEM is a very common condition among children less than 5 years of age in poor countries. UNICEF (6) estimated that approximately one out of three children younger that 5 years of age are chronically malnourished and are thus trapped early in life in a pattern of ill health and poor development. Malnutrition is thus associated with more than half of all deaths of children worldwide (7). Smith and Haddah (8) noted that in 1995, one hundred and sixty seven million children under the age of 5 years representing almost one third of children in developing countries were malnourished. Malnutrition arises from a complex of nutritional, social and biological deprivation and is manifested in various forms such as stunting (short stature), underweight, muscle wasting, growth retardation, diminished subcutaneous fat, ill health and high mortality rate (9). Growth is increase in size and its progress is mainly structural and can be measured with some degree of reliability in terms of height, weight, age etc (10). There are wide variations in the rates at the height and weights of children are eventually attained. This is because many factors may contribute to these variations. These include quality and quantity of food, family income, family size and genetic constitution (11). The assessment of growth was identified as the most important measure for evaluating the health and nutritional status of preschool children through anthropometric measurements (10). This is because anthropometric indicators of growth not only provide information on health and nutritional status but is also an indirect measure of the quality of life of an entire population (12). In this study a combination of anthropometry, dietary assessment and socioeconomic status were used to determine the nutritional status of preschool children since they have been known to give fairly accurate