Study Impact of Gas Flares Environment on Preschool Children Growth Profile in Yenagoa Bayelsa State, Nigeria

The aim of this study was to determine the growth profile of pre-school children in some gas flaring communities in yenagoa, Bayelsa state in relation to under nutrition (PEM), source of drinking water and others.

Methods: This study adopted a cross sectional design strategy to determine the anthropometric indices, parents occupational level effect on the children growth, source of drinking water and the prevalence of undernutrtion among age 1-5yrs using sampling method and well-structured questionnaires, bathroom scale for weight, meter rule for height and Gomez classification method to determine undernutrtion from the results obtained for this study.

Results: Results obtained from this study shows 110(45.83%) males and 130(54.17%) female as participants. Parent’s demographic data shows that civil servants (40.42%) and trading (37.08%) was the major occupation of the fathers while the mothers were more engaged in business (50.42%) and farming (31.25%) compared with other occupations. The anthropometric indices of male children in Tombia compared with Obunagha were all statistically significant (<0.05) except for weight. However the weight among participants in Tombia (female subjects) was significant while other variables were non-significant. Regarding protein energy malnutrition among the male study population, 4.55%, 9.09%, 46.36%, suffers from 3rd ,2nd and 1st degrees malnutrition while 40% has normal weight with no indication of PEM compared with the prevalence of undernutrtion among the females of 1.54% severe, 1.54%moderate with stunted growth, 70% mild and 26.92% normal in the study population. The study also reveal that 6.67%, 1.67% and 12.91% of the children do sometimes drinks either river, pond, or untreated borehole water which could be a factor contributing to their being undernourished. With regards to the children’s birth of origin, 17.08% and 44.17% were born in the study environment.

Conclusion: Gas flares into the studied environment affect the growth profile of age 1-5 yrs preschool children significantly with the manifestation of severe, moderate and mild undernutrtion observed compared with the percentage free from malnutrition. Hence proactive measures should be taking by the government to put an end to the indiscriminate flaring of gases that may hinder children ability to comprehend academically and growth retardation due to protein energy malnutrition, airborne diseases etc.