Purpose-Vaccine preventable diseases are major threats to the health and well-being of children under five years of age. They contribute a great deal to childhood illnesses and disabilities, and are accountable for a high percentage of childhood mortality worldwide. In Nigeria, the government has made a lot of effort to provide immunizations against these childhood diseases. It is however sad to note that many children still do not complete their routine immunization. The purpose of this paper is to determine factors which influence mothers' compliance with childhood immunization. Design/methodology/approach-This was a descriptive study carried out among 600 mothers of under-five children randomly selected from nine postnatal clinics in Ekiti State between January and August 2016. A self-structured validated questionnaire containing items to explore demographic characteristics of respondents, compliance with child immunization (Cronbach's α ¼ 0.92) and determinants of compliance (Cronbach's α ¼ 0.83) was the instrument for data collection. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify determinants of mothers' compliance with childhood immunization. Findings-The level of compliance of mothers with childhood immunization was high (80 percent). The two factors which contributed significantly to mothers' compliance were the mothers' knowledge of childhood immunization (β weight ¼ 0.243) and mothers' educational status (β weight ¼ 0.169). Mothers with tertiary education had the highest level of compliance (76.8 percent). Originality/value-Having good knowledge of childhood immunization and a high educational status positively influence a mothers' compliance with child immunization.
The main objective of this study was to determine the effects of dietary pattern and body mass index on the academic performance of in-school adolescents in Ekiti State. One hundred and twenty eight students (10-19 years) selected from three senior secondary schools in Ekiti State Nigeria, formed the participants for this study. Questionnaire was the instrument for data collection and the data were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics (bivariate Pearson correlation analysis and linear regression) using Spss version 12 at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of this study showed that of all the adolescents, only 16.4%, 14.1%, 7.0%, 16.4% and 10.2% followed a healthy dietary pattern of regular intake of breakfast, three square meals, milk, fruits and vegetables respectively. 50%, 38.3% and 45.3% followed an unhealthy dietary pattern of regular intake of sweets, chewing gum and soft drinks. With regards to body mass index and academic performance, less than 40% of the respondents were of normal weight and only half of the respondents had good academic performance. Body mass index, breakfast consumption, eating three square meals and regular intake of fruits and vegetables all had significant effects (P <0.05) on the academic performance of adolescents. Also, there was a significant joint effect of body mass index and healthy dietary pattern on the academic performance of these adolescents. Parents and school authorities should make all efforts to ensure healthy dietary pattern among adolescents so as to enhance their academic performance.
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