NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF ADOLESCENTS OF DANKANDE COMMUNITY OF KADUNA METROPOLIS

Studies on the nutritional status of adolescents in Dankande community of Kaduna metropolis were carried out. Adolescence is a period between 10 to 19 years of age. This period is a critical period where a healthy diet is needed for proper growth, development, academic performances and human capital development. A validated semi-structured questionnaire was used to assessed socio-demographic characteristic of the adolescent caregivers and dietary pattern of the adolescent while weight, height and BMI were used to assess the anthropometry indices of adolescent. 37.2% of adolescents were between age 10-14 years while 62.8% were between 15-19 years. Also, 5.1% of the adolescents were married, 88.5 were single and 6.4% windowed. (19.2%) of adolescents has no formal education, (2.6%) completed primary school, (29.5%) uncompleted primary school, (2.6%) completed Junior Secondary School, (19.2%) uncompleted Junior Secondary School, while (1.3%) completed Senior Secondary and (25.6%) did not complete Senior Secondary respectively. However, on average (35.9%) of adolescent were dieting and (64.1%) were not dieting while (32.1%) were concerned about their weight and (67.9%) were not concerned about their weight. Few adolescents were losing control of their weight (24.4%) while the majority had their weight in check (75.6%), they engaged in physical activity (85.9%), while many adolescents spent more than two hours per day watching tv/games (69.2%). 17.9% engage in smoking while (5.1%) are involved in drinking alcohol, beer or wine. The nutritional status of adolescents of Dankande community of Kaduna state (56.4%) is good when compared with the national average

TASKS AND EDUCATION RESOURCES OF ADOLESCENTS WHO ASSIST WITH CAREGIVING FOR A FAMILY MEMBER WITH DEMENTIA

An abundance of research involving adults who care for family members with dementia has guided the creation of supportive programs/services. Much less is known about adolescents who are dementia caregivers. This descriptive secondary analysis utilized data collected during a qualitative examination into the psychological well-being of adolescent dementia caregivers. Eleven adolescent/adult dyads who provided dementia care for a family member completed surveys prior to the adolescents’ participation in focus groups. Five male and six female adolescents ages 12 to 17 and eleven female adults were asked similar questions about caregiving tasks, education resources, and demographic information. Using descriptive statistics, the results of the surveys provide a snapshot of caregiving among a group of adolescents living in northwest Ohio and highlight differences reported by the dyads. Adult accounts of adolescent preparatory education were incongruent with the adolescents’ and did not report their use of books or online caregiving resources. Conversely, three adults (27%), but no adolescents, identified hands-on and observational opportunities as education resources. Adults reported greater adolescent involvement in ten activities of daily living (71%), especially related to bathing, shopping, transportation, and managing medication and finances. Adolescents reported helping with tasks such as eating and laundry more often than adults. While the sample size was small, these findings suggest a need for triangulation when seeking knowledge about adolescent caregiving. These results may inform researchers wishing to investigate the role of adolescent caregivers, as well as guide supportive agencies who provide education materials to families caring for individuals with dementia.