Evaluation of milk and nutrient intakes of school children in Nigeria.

The study was conducted to evaluate the contribution made by school milk to the nutrient intake of 246 primary school children in urban and rural areas of Anambra State, Nigeria. The information collected included a brief medical examination, socio-economic data, food consumption pattern and a weighed food intake. Urban and rural children who drank school milk had a mean daily intake of 426 ml compared with only 185 ml per day for children who did not receive school milk. Children who drank school milk daily, when compared with those who did not, had higher statistically significant mean daily intake for several nutrients including calcium and riboflavin (p less than 0.001) in both sexes and groups; protein and fat for rural children (p less than 0.01) and vitamin A for urban and rural boys (p less than 0.001). Symptoms suggestive of lactose intolerance were low in the population investigated. The relative beneficial effects of milk supplementation were more marked in rural than in urban children.