HIGH ENERGY NUTRIENT DENSE PEANUT SNACKS ON BIOCHEMICAL AND ANTHROPOMETRIC PROFILE OF IN-SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS IN ST. THERESA’S GIRLS’ SECONDARY SCHOOL OLOKORO, UMUAHIA SOUTH, ABIA STATE.

ABSTRACT The research aimed to produce and evaluate high energy nutrient dense peanut snacks on biochemical and anthropometric profile of in-school adolescents in holy rosary secondary school Umuahia, Abia State. The research was guided by the following objectives; to determine the effect of the peanut snack on the anthropometric measurements (weight and height) of in-school adolescents, evaluate changes in biochemical parameters (blood glucose, lipid profile, and haemoglobin levels) following peanut snack consumption, assess the acceptability and compliance of in-school adolescents to the peanut snack intervention and compare the nutritional status of adolescents before and after the intervention. Quasi-experimental design was used for the study. The data was subjected to a one-way ANOVA. While the Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) were used at 95% confidence (p < 0.05) interval. Also, another data for analysis were obtained through questionnaire instrument distributed randomly to the in-school adolescents. 400 hundred (40) responses from the questionnaire were gathered and analyzed using descriptive statistics, while (20) twenty of the in-school adolescents was used as intervention group. The result showed that, about 46.5% of the study participant were 10 to 12 years old. The diet quality, most (60.8%) of the participants ate grains, white roots and tubers and plantain yesterday, majority (77.5%) ate egg yesterday, (67.0%) ate dark green leafy vegetables yesterday, (90.0%) ate yellow-coloured vegetables yesterday, about 52.0% ate other vegetables and 46.0% ate other fruits. In the diet quality score (43.0%) were classified in the low-risk category (GDQS (7-9), as most 39.0% of the participants were mild stunting (> 175 cm), 36.8% had a moderate stunting (160–175 cm) and 24.3% were severe stunting (< 160 cm). Biochemical parameters (blood glucose, lipid profile, and haemoglobin levels) following peanut snack consumption of the in-school adolescents, there was a significant reduction in endline of PCV, total cholesterol, HDL-C, triglycerides, LDL and VLDL level of experimental group after supplementation whereas baseline values were noted. The PCV level of the baseline was initially 43.2500±7.67 but after intervention it decreased to 38.3000±2.77 which indicated that the intervention program decreased the PVC level of the study participants. However, PCV value of the baseline had a significant decreased by -4.95 after 28 days. In conclusion, more frequent snack intake is often associated with excess energy intake and non- balanced nutrient intakes, and subsequently causing the increase of overweight and obesity among the adolescents.