ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH HAZARDS AFFECTING THE

HEALTH OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MBAITOLI

L.G.A. OF IMO STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Man lives with a host of factors which tend to mould its well being

either positivel or negetively. These factors make up mans

environment which can define environment as the sum total of all

surroundings of a living organism, including natural forces which

provide conditions for development and growth as well as

behaviour.

This factors making up mans enviroment has direct effect on his

health, which if man neglects can damage our health and may

cause disease. The term health is normally seen by many as

condition of well being. The World Health Organization (WHO)

defined health in 1948 as a state of complete physical, mental

and social being and not merely the absence of disease or

infirmity. Diseas can be as a discomfort, or a condition in which

the body attacked, disarangedor impaired.

To maintain his health and prevent disease, man has to be in

agreement with these factors, if left not controlled can be

dangerous to human heath and come to environmetantal health

hazards. To Dictionary hazard is something which could be

dangerous to you, your health or safety or it can be anything that

has the potential to harm people. In our context, environmental

health hazards are the components of mans surrounding which

constitute danger to his well being. These hazardous factors are

much:

In the process of control, there was environmental sanitation

brought, and was examined by WHO (1974) as the control of

those factors in mans physical enviroment which may cause an

effect on his physical development, health and survival. The

moment man realised that his life was not only himself but also

for the world arround him, there was uinterest where his life

evolved and the changing environment.

Mans relationship with his environment is characterized by

struggle for existence. Individuals are always striving not only to

live better, but live more abundantely. Man has a wide range of

telerance to environmental conditions because of his ability to

adapt. Such adaptation has it limit and breakdown. Breakdown in

adaptation can be improved by increasing the hosts ability to

withstand stresses in his environment with good nutrition,

vaccination, protective clothing or by reducing the harzardous and

hostile demands in the environment.

Mans survival depends on his interaction with these three main

factors:

His internal Environment

Physical Environment
Biological Environment

Both of which make up his external environment. One of the aims

of man is to achieve good health in the environment in which he

lives. To achieve it , man must be free of hazards that is harmful

on huis health, physical development or survival. In this students

of all levels of academic circle require a conducive environment

doroid of hazards in order to succeed in their academic work.

Some of such hazards which causes problems and affect the

health of secondary schools students includes food

contamination, water pollution, improperly disposed of waste

materials, poor housing accomodation, and presence of harmful

living creatures. There will be acomplete investigation of these

problems in subsequent chapters with the aim of certaining the

degree of their effect on the secondary schools students in

Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.

We are in a greater or less or degree exposed to environmental

factors, which we encounter either through the air, water, soil,

food and water.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

For many years, lots of attention have been given to

academic success of students, thinking the schools are safe, while

the opposite is true in the school community the effects of

environmental hazards have been utterly overlooked by parents,

educators, administrators and the general public, they are

supposed to act as true advocates for students health. The

environment in which the students lives are being littered with

rubbish such as peels (yams, banana, organs, biscuits, potatoes

etc) and broken bottle, pin, nails, cans. In some areas, trees

grasses are ore-grown and therefore make provision for one

breeding of various kinds of insects that cause deadly diseases to

the students. This could cause health problems and slow down

one academic work of students.

The environmental hazards to be investigated include, food

contamination, water pollution, improperly disposed waste

materials, poor housing accommodation and presence of harmful

moving creatures.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY OR AIM AND OBECTIVES

The purpose of researcher is to study and examine the

extents of environmental hazards affecting one health of

secondary schools students in Mbaitoli Local Government Area.

This will help draw one attention of the public to find out the

problems in schools that concern health.

 It will also help in the development and improvement on one

school environment and thereby improve the health of the

students.

Aims and Objectives of the Study

To bring the knowledge of the society, the importance of

environmental sanitation.
To discover some environmental hazard which affect the

health of secondary schools in Mbaitolu L.G.A in Imo State

1.4 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It will be of great importance to ministry of health in Imo

State, in planning curriculum in accordance with the health

of secondary schools.
It will enable one principal of schools to employ sanitary

masters that will impact one knowledge of personal and

general hygiene to students, so they can extend the idea to

their various homes and communities.

These research project will be useful for anyone who is

undertaking for the research in the filled of schools encountering

this type of problems and will enable the inspectors to know what

is expected of them in the discharge of their duties.

1.5 SCOPE AND LIMITATION

This research is limited to only secondary schools in Mbaitolu

Local Government Area of Imo State. Four secondary schools are

involved in one study.

1. Good Morning International Secondary, Mbieri

2. Obaju Girls Secondary School, Obazu
3. Ubomiri Girls Secondary School, Ubomiri
4. Mbieri Technical school, Mbieri

The schools are chosen because of the limited time and resources

that will not really permit a wider coverage of the secondary

schools in other local government area.

But the finding will be useful nationwide it can also be used by

sanitary masters to know what is expected of them in discharging

their responsibilities.

The research we be covering one secondary school in

Mbaitolu Imo State, in the process of data collection, a great deal

of effort will be made to ensure the limitations are covered.

 Also, some of the respondents were reluctant in filling the

questionnaire and it will result to a lot of transportation to the

schools, to and fro which be of a cost price.