Nutrition Education and Healthy Workforce Development Among Secondary School Students in Rivers State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63561/jhssr.v3i1.1146Keywords:
Nutrition Education Programmes, Healthy Workforce, National Development, Secondary School, StudentsAbstract
The study examined the impact of Nutrition Education Programmes in Building Healthy Workforce for National Development among Secondary School Students in Rivers State. Three purposes, three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The study was carried out in Rivers State. The study population was all senior secondary school students (SS1–SS3) and teachers in selected schools within Rivers State. The study adopted a multistage sampling technique with sample size of 400 students and 40 teachers. A structured questionnaire was the primary instrument for data collection titled Impact of Nutrition Education Programme (INEP). The questionnaire was structured on a five (5) point response options of Strongly agreed (5), agreed (4), Undecided (3), Disagreed (2) and Strongly Disagreed (1). The questionnaire was subjected to content and face validity by experts in nutrition, education, and public health. Reliability was determined using Cronbach’s Alpha, with a coefficient of 0.70 which was considered reliable enough for the study. Quantitative data from the questionnaires were analyzed using mean and standard deviation while t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The finding of the study revealed a high level of agreement among both teachers and students regarding the positive impact nutrition education programme. It was recommended that government and educational authorities should formally incorporate comprehensive nutrition education into the secondary school curriculum and make it compulsory to promote lifelong healthy habits and improve student well-being.
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