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Background and Objective: The COVID-19 has prompted many countries to adopt temporary “lockdown” as an approach to curtail viral spread. This study investigated the food consumption and coping strategies of urban-households in Nigeria during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Methods: This cross-sectional, web-based study employed a snowball sampling technique to recruit 477 household heads/spouses living in cities/towns of six Nigerian states by encouraging those sent the survey questionnaire link to share with their eligible contacts. Logistic regression was used to reveal the socio-economic determinants of households’ food consumption and coping strategies, as reported on self-administered questionnaires. Respondents were asked to retrospectively indicate how lockdown affected their food consumption. Results: More than half (55.7%) of respondents and 50.8% of their spouses reported a decline in their earning capacity. A high (>4days/week) mean consumption frequency of six food groups was reported. Consuming less expensive (mean, 2.64 ± SD 2.44 days/week) or less preferred foods (1.93 ± 2.04 days/week), and meal rationing (limit portions at meal time -1.50 ± 2.11 days/week, reduce meal number- 1.4 ± 2.19 days/week, limit adults intake- 1.28 ± 2.18 days/week) were the most common coping strategies adopted by the households.. The likelihood of adopting coping strategies was significantly higher amongst households with income decline, the less educated and self-employed categories. Conclusion: In this study, a high frequency of diverse food consumption and mild adoption of food related coping strategies was generally observed, however the impact of the lockdown on food coping strategies was significantly felt by some groups. Efforts to target social assistance programs to these disadvantaged groups should be promoted, as it will strengthen their resilience to cope with food crisis.

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Background: The National School Health Policy (NSHP) was enacted and adopted in Nigeria in 2006 as a guide to the implementation of the School Health Programme (SHP) for the maintenance and improvement of the health of children in school.Objectives: We decided to undertake a survey of the implementation of this policy in public schools in Ebonyi state, southeast Nigeria by assessing the Head teachers' perceptions, attitude, and practice and to determine possible challenges, if any, in the policy implementation.Method: A descriptive crosssectional study was carried out on 788 public primary and secondary schools in Ebonyi state using pretested structured questionnaires administered to their head teachers. Information on school demographics, school health services; school environment, skill-based health instructions in schools and, perceived enablers or barriers toschool health implementation were retrieved.Results: About 65% of participants were unaware of the existence of the NSHP document. None of the schools reported pre-entry medical examination of students, 49.6% had no latrines, 42.1% had no source of water at school, and 45.1% had no teacher trained in Health education. Some of their perceived challenges were low awareness and commitment of school managers, the absence of health workers in school, and lack of teachers training on School Health Programme.Conclusion: Poor knowledge and understanding of the NSHP amongst the teachers, lack of basic human and material resources for health-promotion in schools may have contributed to the seemingly low attitude and practice of the NSHP in public schools of Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

Background: The poor infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices in developing countries require appropriate interventions targeted towards its improvement. Aims: To assess the impact of child feeding intervention on the maternal IYCF knowledge, perception and intention in Abakaliki Metropolis, Nigeria. Subjects and Methods: This quasi-experimental study adopted a mixed method approach and purposive sampling technique to recruited 100 eligible breastfeeding mother and child (6 – 12 months) pairs. The respondents were subjected to a one-day intervention which comprised 7 – hours detailed nutrition education on IYCF and hands-on-practical demonstration of indigenous complementary foods formulation/processing. Paired t-test was used to investigate the significant differences in the IYCF knowledge and perception before and after the intervention while focus group discussions identified their intended child feeding practices after the intervention. Results: Results reported a mild increase in the mean knowledge (13.71 + 3.67 to 15.79 + 3.97) and perception (16.86 + 4.36 to 17.21+ 2.96) score after the intervention. Qualitative data revealed mothers’ intention to stop; forceful feeding, offering processed drinks and early switching of breast. Furthermore, the respondents affirmed that they were furnished with the right knowledge/skills for enrichment and formulation of new/existing varieties of local complementary foods. Conclusion: The intervention increased maternal IYCF knowledge, perception and promoted good IYCF intentions. Increased nutrition education of the mothers should be encouraged as it facilitates the improvement in maternal IYCF knowledge, perception and feeding behaviors. Keywords: Infant and young child feeding, knowledge, perception, intention, nutrition interventions.