Dietary Food Intake and Weight Differences Among High School Students In Rural and Urban Settings.

Purpose: This study investigates dietary intake between urban and rural secondary school students in a low-income country to provide information on an important target group for dietary interventions. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a representative sample of 180 Senior secondary school classes 1-3(SSS1-SSS3) that comprise of 13-18 years students in the rural and urban areas of Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Student\u27s t-test was used to compare the average weight of subjects with different age categories in the rural and urban settings, while ANOVA compared different types of dietary intake for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the amount of carbs, protein and fats for the SS1-SS3 classes in urban and rural schools. Findings: Dietary intake for carbs, protein and fats for the students in SS1 [F (2,10) = 61.84, P\u3c0.001], SS2, [F (2,10) = 113.67, P\u3c0.001] and SS3 [F (2,10) = 55.32, P \u3c0.001] were significantly different for students in the urban and rural schools. There was no significant difference (P\u3e0.05) for the types of food taken for breakfast, lunch and dinner between the rural and urban schools. Average weight for all age groups were generally higher in the rural schools than the urban schools[T = (1)=4.24, df = 2, P = 0.05)]. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that dietary intake differs in young secondary school students in rural and urban settings. Higher consumption patterns for high starch content root tubers dominated the dietary intake for rural students, while protein and fats were the dominant foods for urban students. Originality/value: This study examined diet quality intake in urban and rural secondary school students in a low-income countr