Determinants of dietary adequacy and diet quality of in-school adolescent girls in Nigeria: implications for non-communicable diseases

TL;DR

This study examines the diets of adolescent girls in Nigeria and how they relate to non-communicable diseases and obesity.

Contribution

The study identifies personal and sociodemographic factors influencing dietary quality and their implications for NCD prevention.

Findings

Older adolescents and those in large households had better diet quality scores.

Urban adolescents had lower diet quality than rural counterparts.

Higher intake of protective food groups was associated with lower BMI.

Abstract

An unhealthy diet is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), compounded by the rising incidence of overweight/obesity among adolescent girls. This study investigated adolescent girls’ dietary adequacy and quality, their determinants and implications for NCDs.

This descriptive cross-sectional study design employed a stratified random sampling technique to obtain data from a validated questionnaire and other assessments. Data was collected in 2023 from 2261 in-school adolescent girls in Nigeria. Dietary adequacy (All-5 food groups) and diet quality (NCD-Protect and NCD-Risk food groups) were assessed in accordance with global dietary recommendation (GDR). Body Mass Index-for-age (BMI) was determined using the WHO growth reference. All analyses were conducted using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS Version 27, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05.

Mean values recorded were age (14.9 ± 1.8), BMI (20.1 ± 3.7 kg/m²), All-5 (3.8 ± 1.1), NCD-Protect (2.4 ± 1.4), NCD-Risk (1.8 ± 1.7), and GDR (9.7 ± 1.5). About 7% were overweight/obese. Older adolescents demonstrated higher GDR (β = 0.20, p = 0.04) scores than their younger counterparts aged 10–13. Adolescents living in urban areas had lower diet quality than their rural counterparts (p < 0.001), while those from the Southeast region had higher diet quality scores. Large households showed higher All-5, NCD-Protect, and GDR scores than smaller households (p < 0.05). Girls who took daily money to school had higher All-5 (β = 0.03 to 0.27) but lower GDR scores (β = -0.30 to -0.22) (p < 0.05). An inverse association exists between All-5 (r = -0.043, p = 0.039), NCD-Protect food group (r = -0.054, p = 0.010), and BMI.

Personal and sociodemographic characteristics influenced the respondents’ dietary adequacy and quality. Higher All-5 and NCD-Protect food group scores lowered BMI. This can positively impact overweight/obesity reduction, thereby delaying NCDs’ onset in later years. Conscious efforts should be made to communicate the potential benefits of improving adolescents’ diets.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40795-026-01279-3.