Anaemia, Dietary Diversity and School WASH Conditions among Adolescent Girls in Selected Public Secondary Schools in Ogun State, Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Study

Publication Details

Publication Date

10/09/2026

Volume / Issue

Vol 1, Issue 4 (2026)

Article No.

057

Journal

British Journal of Contemporary Research

DOI

https://doi.org/10.67693/BJCR-KMWGDTZN

Received

30 Aug 2026

Views

6

Downloads

7

Abstract

Background: Anaemia remains an important adolescent-health concern, but evidence combining current age-specific haemoglobin classification with dietary and school water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) conditions is limited in southwestern Nigeria. This study estimated anaemia prevalence and examined selected correlates among adolescent girls attending public secondary schools in Ogun State. Methods: A school-based cross-sectional study included 277 girls aged 10-19 years from six selected public secondary schools during April-June 2025. A structured, pretested questionnaire captured sociodemographic, menstrual-health, dietary, recent-malaria and participant-reported school WASH indicators; a separate checklist documented school-level WASH conditions. Capillary haemoglobin was measured using a HemoCue Hb 301 analyser, and anaemia was classified using World Health Organization (WHO) 2024 age-specific cut-offs. Logistic regression estimated crude and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Anaemia affected 82/277 participants (29.6%; 95% CI 24.5-35.2): 62 (22.4%) had mild and 20 (7.2%) moderate anaemia; no severe cases were identified. School-specific prevalence ranged from 19.6% to 44.7%. Each additional year of age was associated with lower odds of anaemia (adjusted OR [AOR] 0.81, 95% CI 0.68-0.97), as was each one-point increase in the recorded dietary-diversity score (AOR 0.85, 95% CI 0.73-0.99). Participant-reported school water availability had an inverse but imprecisely estimated association in the primary model (AOR 0.57, 95% CI 0.31-1.04); the post-menarcheal sensitivity estimate was 0.53 (95% CI 0.28-0.99). Soap availability, the study-record menstrual-hygiene adequacy indicator and recent malaria were not independently associated. Conclusion: Anaemia affected nearly one-third of girls in the selected schools. Younger age and a lower recorded dietary-diversity score were the most consistent correlates. The school audit documented WASH service gaps, but WASH-anaemia associations should be regarded as exploratory. The cross-sectional design and purposive school selection preclude causal or population-wide inference.

License

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . Free to read, share, and adapt with attribution.