ABSTRACT
Nutritional status is an important component of nutritional care and state of health of any individual. This study examined the anthropometric indices and dietary intake of rural farmers in Nkanu West Local Government Area Enugu, State. A total of 330 rural farmers were purposively selected and used for the study. Questionnaire was used to collect data on dietary habit, dietary intake and anthropometric information of the farmers. Descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) and mean and standard deviation were used for the analysis. Results showed that about 36.7% had 6-10 years of farming experience, 41.2% have had 1-2 hectares of land while 43.9% share communal land. Similarly, about 96.4% used human labour in farming. Some (67.6%) ate three times a day, 46.1% ate heavy at lunch, 59.1% consumed vegetables twice a week, 42.4% consumed biscuit, 30.9% consumed moi-moi while 57.1% consumed minerals (coke, fanta, sprite, 7up, etc) and 26.1% preferred garri and soup. Food selection on food frequency was based on locally produced food (plant products). BMI results showed that 3.0% of the farmers were underweight, 72.4% were normal, 22.4% were overweight and 2.1% were obese. The result further showed that the number of meals consumed a day had positive relationship with their waist circumference; including waist hip ratio. Therefore, it was concluded that lack of adequate dietary pattern may result in poor nutritional status of the farmers; this could pre-dispose the farmers to non-communicable diseases and poor productivity. The study recommended that nutrition education, healthy eating pattern and nutrition intervention among others be made available to rural farmers by the various levels of government and organization.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
Certification
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Table of contents
List of tables
Abstract
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background of the study
1
1.2
Statement of the problem 5
1.3
Objective of the study
6
1.3.1
General objective of the study 6
1.3.2
Specific objective of the study 6
1.4
Significance of study 7
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
Dietary intake 8
2.2.1
Usual food intake 9
2.2.2
Frequency of food consumption 10
2.2.2.1
Food frequency questionnaire 10
2.2.2.1.1 Characteristics 10
2.2.2.1.2 Advantages 11
2.2.2.1.3 Disadvantages 11
2.2.2.3
Weighed food intake 12
2.2.2.4 24-hour recall' 13
2.2.2.4.1 Characteristics 13
2.2.4.2 Advantages 13
2.2.4.3 Disadvantages
2.2.2.4 Energy
and nutrients intake 14
2.3
Guidelines for good dietary
intake 16
2.3.1
Food guide pyramid 16
2.3.2
The south African food based
dietary guidelines (safbdg) 18
2.4
Factors that affect dietary intake
among farmers 21
2.5
Anthropometric indices 27
2.5.1
Body weight measurement 29
2.5.2
Height measurement 29
2.5.3 Body mass index 29
2.5.3.1 Limitations of BMI 30
2.5.4 Waist Circumference measurement 325.5 Hip
measurement
32
2.5.6 Waist hip ratio
(WHR) 32
CHAPTER 3
MATERIALS AND METHODS
3.1
Study area 34
3.2 Study design 35
3.3
Study population 35
3.4
Sample size determination 36
3.5
Sample techniques 37
3.6
Questionnaire 37
3.7
Questionnaire pretesting and validation 38
3.8
Training of research assistants 38
3.9
Data collection 39
3.9.1
Anthropometric measurements 39
3.9.1.1 Height measurements 39
3.9.1.2 Weight measurement 40
3.9.1.3 Body mass index
40
3.9.1.4 Waist measurement 41
3.9.1.5 Hip circumference measurement 41
3.9.1.6 Waist hip ratio (WHR) 41
3.10
Food consumption pattern 42
3.10.1
24-hours dietary recall 42
3.10.2
Food frequency questionnaire 42
3.11
Statistical analysis 43
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1:
Socio-demographic characteristics of the farmers 44
4.2:
Income generating activities of the farmers 52
4.3:
Dietary habit of the farmers 53
4.4:
Food consumption pattern of the farmer using food frequency 61
4.5:
Food consumption pattern of the farmer using 24-hour recall 85
4.6
Mean anthropometric indices of the farmers 92
4.7:
Relationship between dietary habit and body mass index of the farmers
95
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1:
Conclusion 101
5.2:
Recommendations 102
References
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Dietary intake refers to the daily eating patterns of an
individual, including specific foods and calories consumed and relative
quantities. It has powerful factors for the health and wellbeing of any group of
persons. It is a major modifiable and powerful element in promoting health,
improving the quality of life, preventing and treating diseases. Nutritional status
reflects the level of healthiness of any group of individual (Pinna, 2001). The
balance between food intake and the expenditure by an organism determines the
rate of growth, reproduction and health maintenance. A healthy diet is a pillar
of wellbeing throughout lifespan. It promotes the achievement of pregnancy
outcomes, supports normal growth, development and aging; helps to maintain
weight, reduces chronic disease risks and promotes overall health and wellbeing
(Pinna, 2001).
Consuming a healthy diet which is usually obtained
from a wide variety of foods and beverages can be attained with good dietary
pattern. When nutrient intakes are inadequate and nutrient reserves are
depleted, malnutrition sets in, affecting the health and well-being of a group.
Malnutrition is a condition that results from eating a diet in which nutrients
are either not enough or are too much that the diet cause health problems
(Pinna, 2001). Malnutrition may increase risk of susceptibility to infection
and chronic diseases; under-nutrition may lead to increased infection and
decreases in physical and mental development while over-nutrition may lead to
obesity as well as to metabolic syndrome such as diabetes (Pinna, 2001).
Nutritional status may be determined using direct methods
of assessment such as anthropometric, clinical, and dietary and biochemical
laboratory methods. Anthropometric method is a measurement of body height and
weight, total skin fold thickness and arm circumference while dietary
assessment is used to determine the nutrient intake of individuals or
population group. These are then compared with recommended standards (Wardlaw et al., 2007). Anthropometric
measurements are excellent first line of attack in determining nutrition status
(Wardlaw et al., 2007). Dietary
assessment is also a good approach to identifying nutrients that are likely to
be either under or over consumed by an individual, and used for determining protein
–energy malnutrition (PEM) (Wardlaw et
al., 2007).
Farmers also called agriculturists are persons who
engaged in agriculture, raising living organism for food or raw materials
(Dwyer, 2007). They account for the greater part of the population of any
developing country such as Nigeria. In Nigeria, farmers may own the farm land
or may work as laborers on land owned by others (Dwyer, 2007). Traditional
methods characterized by bush burning and hand tillage are mostly practiced by
the farmers, these results in food shortage (Dwyer, 2007). In addition, there
could be lack of arable land, adverse weather, low farming skills or lack of
modern technology (Dwyer, 2007). The farmers may lack resources needed for
higher yields found in modern agriculture such as fertilizers, pesticides,
irrigation machinery and storage facilities (Dwyer, 2007). As a result of wide
spread poverty, the rural farmers cannot afford the resources necessary to
improve the local yields, thus, leading to poor infrastructure and inadequate
basic amenities such as water and electricity (NDHS, 2013). These problems
notwithstanding, adequate nutrition is necessary for the farmers to be fit,
productive and capable of fulfilling their capabilities in life (Dwyer, 2007).
Anthropometry refers to the measurement of the human individual. An early tool of physical anthropology, it has
been used for identification, for the purposes of understanding human physical
variation and in various attempts to correlate physical with racial and
psychological traits. Anthropometry involves the systematic measurement of the
physical properties of the human body, primarily dimensional descriptors of
body size and shape (Mosharraf, 2001). Today, anthropometry plays an important role
in industrial design, clothing design, ergonomics and architecture where statistical data about the distribution of
body dimensions in the population are used to optimize products. Changes in
lifestyles, nutrition, and ethnic composition of populations lead to changes in
the distribution of body dimensions (e.g. the rise in obesity), and require
regular updating of anthropometric data collections (Ganong, 2001).
Anthropometry is an easy, economical, effective, and
reliable method that is useful as an initial screening tool for hypertension (Silva et al., 2013; Sanchez-Viveros et al., 2008).
Various anthropometric indices that describe obesity and body fat distribution
have been developed; these include the body mass index (BMI), waist
circumference (WC), the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and the waist-to-height ratio
(WHtR) (Silva et al., 2013; Ganong, 2001).
A farmer also called an agriculturist is a person who is engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The
term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry,
or other livestock.
A farmer might own the farmed land or might work as a labourer on land owned by
others, but in advanced economies, a farmer is usually a farm owner, while employees of the farm are known as farm workers,
or farmhands. However, a farmer cold also be described as a person who promotes
or improves the growth of (a plant, crop, etc.) by labor and attention, land or
crops or raises animals (as livestock or fish). They
account for the greater part of the population of any developing country such
as Nigeria. In Nigeria, farmers may own the farm land or may work as labourer
on land owned by others. Traditional methods characterized by bush burning and
hand tillage are mostly practiced by the farmers. These result in food
shortage. In addition, there could be lack of arable land, adverse weather, low
farming skills or lack of modern technology. The farmers may lack resources
needed for higher yields found in modern agriculture such as fertilizers,
pesticides, irrigation machinery and storage facilities. As a result of wide
spread poverty, the rural farmers cannot afford the resources necessary to
improve the local yields, especially in rural Nigeria, where majority of the
farmers are noted for poor infrastructure and inadequate basic amenities such
as water and electricity (NDHS, 2013).
Nutrition status refers to the availability of nutrients and calories
in the individual's diet compared
to nutrition recommendations for the individual's age group and overall health
status (Dietary Guidelines for
Americans, 2005).
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM
Malnutrition
is widespread in the entire country and rural areas are especially vulnerable
to chronic food shortage, unbalanced nutrition, poor quality and high cost of
food (Akinyele, 2009). According to UNICEF (2014), malnutrition and nutrition
related diseases continue to be problems of public health importance in Nigeria.
Underlying these problems of malnutrition is a number of issues such as poor
maternal nutrition, poverty, inadequate health services and limited access to
nutritious foods amongst others. The rural dwellers are mostly affected because
most of them are subsistent farmers who may lack resources needed for higher
yields found in modern agriculture such as fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation
machinery and storage facilities. UNDP (2005) observed that out of 75% of
Nigeria population living in the rural area, 65% who are poor were directly or
indirectly linked with agricultural sector. Similarly, available statistics
also showed that between 1961-2008, the average daily per capita calorie and
protein intakes in Nigeria was still below the recommended daily consumption by
the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Nigeria (Ogundari, 2013b).
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
1.3.1
General objective of the study
The general objective of the study is to determine the anthropometric
indices and dietary intake of rural farmers in Nkanu West Local Government Area,
Enugu State.
1.3.2
Specific objective of the study
The specific objectives are to:-
1.
Determine
the socio-economic status of the farmers.
2.
Evaluate dietary habit of the farmers.
3.
assess their dietary intake using retrospective approach
of dietary assessment such as food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and 24 hour
dietary recall.
4.
Assess the anthropometric indices of the farmers using anthropometric
measurements such as weight, height, BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference
and waist-hip-ratio.
5.
Correlate their dietary
intake with BMI, waist circumference and hip circumference.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE
OF STUDY
This study document is intended to be a primary source of data for dietary
habit and anthropometric information
for policy makers. It
will enable Ministry of Agriculture to diversify agriculture as to improve
dietary diversity and nutritional outcomes. Information from this study will
enable agricultural extension workers to better educate the farmers on the best
farming methods that will improve rhe food yield. It will enable nutrition
educators to encourage farmers to engage in homestead gardens for improved diet
diversity, especially during dry season.
In addition, it will provide basis
for the assessment of nutritional and health status; form the frame work for
effective health policy guidelines for the Nutritionist, Dietitcians, Home
economists in educating farmers in south
eastern Nigeria and other part of the country on healthy feeding habits. It will
also suggest plans for maintaining normal body mass index (BMI) through
adjustment in dietary pattern.
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