Knowledge, attitude and practice of school health among primary school teachers in Ogun State, Nigeria

Background: The School health programme is designed to promote the optimal physical, emotional, social and educational development of students. Teachers play a major role in the promotion and successful implementation of the Programme. Objective: To determine and compare teachers knowledge, attitude and practice of the school health programme in urban and rural schools in Ogun state, Nigeria. Methodology : This cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in public primary schools in Ifo (urban) and Ikenne (rural) Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Ogun State. A multistage sampling method was used to select teachers in each Local Government Area. Data was collected using self administered questionnaires and analysed using the EPIInfo 6 statistical software. Results: Although majority of the respondents in both LGAs were aware of the school health programme, (Ifo 97.4%, Ikenne 97.3%), more than half of the respondents, (Ifo 57.0%, Ikenne54.5%) had poor knowledge of school health. Majority of the respondents in Ifo (98.7%) and Ikenne(98.3%) felt that the school health programme is desirable and necessary. School health programme is in place in most schools in both LGAs ( Ifo 77.3%, Ikenne 73.2%). However many key components are poorly practiced. Conclusion: There was no statistically significant difference in the knowledge (p= 0.209) and practice (p=0.313) of school health in rural and urban LGAs. In service training on school health should be provided for teachers and the needed resources should be made available for the full implementation of all components of school health in all schools.