Climate Change and Nutritional Anthropometric Status of Women of Nsukka Local Government Area in Enugu State of Nigeria

The study arose out of the need to assess the perceived effect of climate change on nutritional anthropometric status of women in Nsukka local government of Enugu State, Nigeria. Mean, standard deviation and t tests were used for data analysis. The results obtained revealed that the higher prevalence of short stature in subjects of the low socio-economic group indicates nutritional anthropometric deficiencies in the past. Nutritional problems were predominantly present in women of the middle age group (18 to 35 years old), and the high prevalence of both low BMI and low energy intake emphasize the vulnerability of this group to malnutrition. The study defined several differences in the nutritional anthropometric states of women which have a potential influence on the well-being of the subjects as well as their offspring. Based on the findings it is recommended that nutrition education on best practice and health implication of obesity should be given to the women in order to reduce the incidence of overweight during scarcity of balance diet as a result of climate change crisis. In addition, Intervention programmes of the Public Health Department in Nigeria should target these women at risk and attempt to eliminate these differences in nutritional anthropometric status for improved productivity.