ABSTRACT
Food is our primary source of energy, but in spite of its usefulness in the entire wellbeing of man, food continue to pose a problem for man with regards to quality and quantity, which is an unnegotiable characteristic of developing countries like Nigeria. This study was designed to assess the food consumption, lifestyle and anthropometric status of adults living in Aba North Local Government Area of Abia state. The study was descriptive and cross sectional in design. A total of 413 respondents were selected using multi-staged sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on the food consumption, lifestyle habit, physical activity level and anthropometric status of the respondents. The result showed that majority (62.6%) were between the ages of 51-60, more than half (51.8%) of the respondents were married, a good number (47.7%) of the respondents were primary school certificate holders, majority of the respondents (94.3%) were Christians and most (40.5%) earned between N51,000 to Nl00,000. Food consumption pattern results showed that more than half (52.1%) ate three times daily, a few (19.9%) skipped meals, most (44.8%) of the adults consumed snacks. Results on the frequency of food consumption showed that most of them consumed cereals and starchy staples such as rice (56.6%), bread (31.8%) and noodles (43.0%) on a weekly basis. Beans was the most (45%) consumed legume on a weekly basis, while garri, yam and sweet potatoes were the most (68.6%, 43.0%, 43.0%) consumed tubers weekly by the respondents respectively. The result showed that more than half of the respondents consumed palm oil (51.7%) and vegetable oil (51.7%) daily. Onions (52.1%), tomatoes (56.2%) and pawpaw (43.0%) were the common vegetables and fruits consumed weekly by the respondents. Majority (64.1%) were engaged in moderate physical activity. Lifestyle habits showed that, only a few (14.4%) smoke, and about 60.3% drink at least 1 unit of alcohol. Anthropometric status information revealed that 29.4% were overweight while 21.2% were obese, with a mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25.99kgm-2, also, 18.3% were at high risk of obesity while 68.8% were at moderate risk of obesity using waist circumference and waist hip ratio assessment. The study found snacking habit was positively correlated to BMI (P=0.033) and daily food consumption (P=0.035). Physical activity was negatively correlated to BMI (P=0.023), WC (P=0.023) and WHR (P=0.038) while alcohol consumption was negatively correlated to BMI (P=0.007). The study among others recommended that it is important for adults in the- study area to engage in more physical activities, be more diverse in their food consumption and avoid lifestyles that can have a negative impact on their health.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COVER PAGE
TITLE PAGE i
CERTIFICATION ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS v
LIST OF TABLES viii
ABSTRACT ix
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background of the study 1
1.1 Statement of the problem 5
1.2 Objectives of the study 6
1.3 Significance of the study 7
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Adults/adulthood 8
2.1.1 Biological adulthood 8
2.1.2 Legal adulthood 9
2.1.3 Social construction of adulthood 10
2.2 Nutritional requirements of adults 11
2.2.1 Energy needs 12
2.2.2 Protein Needs 13
2.2.3 Micronutrients requirement 15
2.3 Food 18
2.4 Food consumption 20
2.4.1 Factors affecting food consumption 22
2.4.1.1 Economic 22
2.4.1.2 Socio-political factors 24
2.4.1.3 Climate and environmental factors 26
2.4.1.4 Physical and biological factors 26
2.4.1.5 Cultural 27
2.4.1.6 Scientific and technological factors 28
2.5 lifestyle 29
2.5.1 Physical Activity 32
2.5.2 Alcohol Intake 33
2.5.3 Cigarette Intake 34
2.6 anthropometry 35
2.6.1 Anthropometric measurements 35
2.6.2 Height and weight 35
2.6.3 Body mass index (BMI) 37
2.6.4 Waist and hip circumference 38
2.6.5 Waist and hip ratio 39
2.6.6 Mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) 39
CHAPTER 3
MATERIALS AND METHODS
3.1 Study design 40
3.3 Population of the study 40
3.4 Sample and sampling technique 41
3.4.1 Sample Size 42
3.4.2 Sampling Procedure 43
3.5 Preliminary activities 43
3.5.1 Preliminary visit 43
3.5.2 Training of research assistant 43
3.5.4 Informed Consent 43
3.6 Data collection 44
3.6.1 Questionnaire administration 44
3.6.2 Questionnaire validation 44
3.6.3 Questionnaire pretesting 44
3.6.4 Anthropometric measurements 44
3.6.5 Dietary assessment 45
3.6.6 Physical activity measurements 46
3.7 Data analysis 46
3.8 Statistical analysis 46
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Socio-economic characteristics of the respondents 48
4.2 Food consumption pattern of the respondents 50
4.3 Frequency of Food Consumption of the respondents 52
4.4 Physical Activity Levels of the respondents 55
4.5 Lifestyle Habits of the respondents 59
4.6 Anthropometric status of the respondents 61
4.7 Relationship between food consumption, lifestyle and the anthropometric status of the respondents 65
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Conclusion 67
5.2 Recommendations 67
REFERENCES 68
Appendixes
Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix III
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 BMI classifications 38
Table 4.1 Socio-economic Characteristics of the respondents 49
Table 4.2 Food consumption pattern of the respondents 51
Table 4.3 Food frequency and consumption per week of different food groups by the respondents 54
Table 4.4a Physical activity levels of the respondents 57
Table 4.4b Physical activity levels of the respondents 58
Table 4.5 Overall Physical activity level of the respondents 58
Table 4.6 Lifestyle Habits of the respondents 60
Table 4.7: Anthropometrics characteristics of the respondents 63
Table 4.8: Mean anthropometric characteristics of the respondents 64
Table 4.9 Relationship between food consumption, lifestyle, physical activity and the anthropometric status of the respondents 66
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.0 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Food is a basic human need and the major source of nutrients needed for human existence. Food security indicates the availability of and access to food (Okuneye, 2014). Reducing food insecurity continues to be a major public policy challenge in developing countries (Okuneye, 2014). Almost 1 billion people worldwide are undernourished, many more suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, and the absolute numbers tend to increase further, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (FAO, 2008). Food price hikes have contributed to greater public awareness of hunger related problems, also resulting in new international commitments to invest in developing countries agriculture (Fan and Rosegrant, 2008). Global Hunger Index (GHI) ranking of Nigeria as 40th among 79 food deficient countries in 2011, 40th again in 2012, 39th in 2013 and 38th in 2014 remains unacceptably high and has indicated that no remarkable progress has been made from all efforts geared towards hunger reduction (GHI, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014). The GHI Report (2012) further posited that rising food prices, malnutrition and deaths as a result of wide-spread poverty is an indication of the prevalence of food insecurity in the country and also a sign of extreme suffering for millions of poor people.
Food security exists when “all people at all times have access to safe nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life” (FAO, 1996). Food security entails ensuring sustainable access, availability and affordability of adequate quantity and quality food to all citizens to meet up with their physiological requirements (Okuneye, 2014). The main goal of food security is for individuals to be able to obtain adequate food needed at all times, and to be able to utilise the food to meet the body’s needs (Omotesho et al., 2010). Food security is multifaceted. The World Bank (2001) identified three pillars underpinning food security which are food availability, food accessibility, and food utilization. This infers from the concept that food security is not just a production issue.
Food availability for the household means ensuring sufficient food is available for them through own production (Okuneye, 2014). However, due to lack of adequate storage facilities and pressing needs, they mostly end up selling excess produce during the harvesting period, and sometimes rely on market purchases during the planting season, while food access means reducing poverty. Simply making food available is not enough; one must also be able to purchase it, especially the low-income households (Sen, 2011). Pervasive poverty among the rural population in Nigeria is an indication of low agricultural productivity and relatively low incomes (Abdullahi, 2009). D’Silva and Bysouth (2012) defined absolute poverty as lack of access to resources required for obtaining the minimum necessities essential for the maintenance of physical efficiency. This connotes that the poor farmers will have little access to food, either produced or purchased. Farm families with limited access to productive resources such as land, inputs and capital, required for attaining physical efficiency in food production could be food insecure i.e. resource poverty could lead to low productivity, food insufficiency, and lack of income to purchase the needed calories (Oluwatayo, 2008).
Although, food consumption and nutrition at the household level are considered as a microeconomic issue, policies designed to address the macroeconomic challenges of a country often have a profound impact on nutritional outcomes (Olarinde, and Kuponiyi, 2015). Macroeconomic changes, such as structural adjustment and stabilization policies, undertaken as part of reviving economies in the past have had significant influence on the food and nutrition security of the population (Diaz-Bonilla, 2015). Considerable efforts have been made to reduce the adverse effects of such macroeconomic policies and shocks on the nutritional well-being of the poor and vulnerable segments of the population (Oyewole, 2012). Food price, financial, and fuel crises in the past have also been of interest to the policy makers as they affect food consumption, service provision, and nutritional status.
Lifestyle is a way lived by people, groups and nations and is formed in specific geographical, economic, political, cultural and religious text. Lifestyle is referred to the characteristics of inhabitants of a region in special time and place. It includes day to day behaviors and functions of individuals in job, activities, fun and diet. In recent decades, life style as an important factor of health is more interested by researchers. According to WHO, 60% of related factors to individual health and quality of life are correlated to lifestyle (Ziglio et al., 2004). Millions of people follow an unhealthy lifestyle. Hence, they encounter illness, disability and even death. Problems like metabolic diseases, joint and skeletal problems, cardio-vascular diseases, hypertension, overweight, violence and so on, can be caused by an unhealthy lifestyle. The relationship of lifestyle and health should be highly considered. Variables of lifestyle that influence on health can be categorized in some items including; diet, exercise, sleep, sexual behavior, substance abuse, medication abuse, application of modern technologies, recreation and study.
Diet is the greatest factor in lifestyle and has a direct and positive relation with health. Poor diet and its consequences like obesity is the common healthy problem in urban societies. Unhealthy lifestyle can be measured by BMI. Urban lifestyle leads to the nutrition problems like using fast foods and poor foods, increasing problems like cardiovascular (Mozaffarian et al., 2011). For treating general health problems, the exercise is included in life style (Dunn et al., 1998). The continuous exercise along with a healthy diet increases the health. Some studies stress on the relation of active life style with happiness (Farhud et al., 2015). One of the bases of healthy life is the sleep. Sleep cannot be apart from life. Sleep disorders have several social, psychological, economical and healthy consequences. Lifestyle may effect on sleep and sleep has a clear influence on mental and physical health (Farhud and Tahavorgar, 2013). Normal sex relation is necessary in healthy life. Dysfunction of sex relation is the problem of most of societies and it has a significant effect on mental and physical health. It can be said that dysfunctional sex relation may result in various family problems or sex related illnesses like; AIDS. Addiction is considered as an unhealthy life style. Smoking and using other substance may result in various problems; cardiovascular disease, asthma, cancer, brain injury. According to the resent studies in Iran, 43% of females and 64% of males experience the use of hubble-bubble (Ebrat, 2013). A longitudinal study shows that 30% of people between 18–65 years old smoke cigarette permanently (Ebadi et al., 2011).
Medication abuse is a common form of using medication and it is considered as an unhealthy life style. Unhealthy behaviors in using medication are as followed: self-treatment, sharing medication, using medications without prescription, prescribing too many drugs, prescribing the large number of each drug, unnecessary drugs, bad handwriting in prescription, disregard to the contradictory drugs, disregard to harmful effects of drugs, not explaining the effects of drugs. Leisure pass time is a sub factor of life style. Neglecting leisure can bring negative consequences. With disorganized planning and unhealthy leisure, people endanger their health. Study is the exercise of soul. Placing study as a factor in lifestyle may lead to more physical and mental health. For example, prevalence of dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease is lower in educated people. Study could slow process of dementia (Ebadi et al., 2011).
Physical activity can be described as the expenditure of energy through many bodily movements via the expansion and contraction of skeletal muscles (WHO 2014). Moderate physical activity includes everyday actions such as walking, riding a bicycle or participating in a sport (Afolabi et al., 2014). One should not confuse physical activity with exercise, which is a planned, repetitive routine that aims to achieve physical fitness goals (WHO, 2015). World studies have indicated that the higher the income of a household, the more inactive individuals become across both genders (Hallal et al., 2012). In contrast, Merchant et al. (2007) found that Canadian children and adolescents coming from low income neighborhoods with low socio-economic status have high levels of inactivity and were found to be more overweight with reports of poorer dietary intake compared to adolescents dwelling in affluent neighborhoods with a higher socio-economic status.
Associated contributing factors such as convenience foods and heavily processed foods which are substituted for home-grown foods due to the world’s evolved fast-pace lifestyle exacerbate the incidence of overweight and obesity (Larsen and Hess, 2012). The most important commodity in the modern era is time, with people trying to cram as many daily activities as possible into the time available. In the pursuit of necessary or preferred activities, fresh, nutrient-dense foods that have longer preparation and cooking times are often sacrificed (Popkin, 2006).
1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The development of any nation is said to be gravely dependent on its non-human and human resources (Adeola, 2009). However, for the non-human resources to be adequately harnessed and utilized, the human resources must be in good mental, physical and emotional health condition (Adeola, 2009). Furthermore, the production capacity of the human resource is dependent on how well it is fed, for food is our primary source of energy. But in spite of its usefulness in the entire wellbeing of man, food continue to pose a problem for man with regards to quality and quantity, which is an unnegotiable characteristics of developing countries like Nigeria (Omonona and Agoi, 2007).
Poor food consumption adversely affect the livelihood and well-being of a massive number of people inhibiting the development of many poor countries (Gebremedhin, 2000). The World Health Organization recommends an intake of between 2500 – 3400Kcal of energy per person per day (Eze and Ibekwe, 2014). It was recommended that an individual should consume between 65-86g crude proteins per day out of which 35g (or 40%) must be animal protein (Babatunde and Qaim, 2010). Many Nigerians especially those in the rural areas have energy intake that is far below the minimum recommended daily per capita intake and the factors responsible are not well known, hence, predisposing people to the challenges of food insecurity (Eze and Ibekwe, 2014).
Moreso, physical inactivity is not only a local but also a worldwide endemic situation that is causing more people to fall into the overweight and obese segments (Reddy et al., 2008). Inactivity and poor diet, in conjunction with obesity, leads to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which are causing people to develop chronic lifetime diseases which are expensive to manage and to a greater extent, lead to early mortality (Wright et al., 2012 and Shisana et al., 2014). The most prominent NCDs associated with physical inactivity, poor diet and obesity in Nigeria are cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels (Kruger et al., 2003). This study will therefore analyze the food consumption, lifestyle and anthropometric status of adults living in Aba North Local Government Area of Abia State.
1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The general objective of this study is to assess the food consumption, lifestyle and anthropometric status of adults living in Aba North Local Government Area of Abia state.
Specifically, the study will;
i. assess the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents
ii. determine the food consumption pattern of the respondents
iii. assess the lifestyle pattern of the respondents
iv. determine the anthropometric status of adults in Aba North L.G.A
v. examine the relationship between food consumption, lifestyle and the anthropometric status of the respondents
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
There is an urgent need for the government to put in place effective measures to combat food insecurity and malnutrition and improve food consumption status of adults and children in the country. However, this cannot be done without a proper understanding of the status of food consumption and lifestyle of its citizenry. Therefore the findings of this study will be of immense benefit to government in fighting food and nutrition problems as it will provide a clear background information on the status of food consumption, physical activity and anthropometry in the study area. Results and findings from this research will not only contribute to existing academic literature but can be used by the government, researchers, policy makers, and other relevant stakeholders to develop and implement strategies that can uplift the lives of people living in the study area.
Nutritionist and dietitians will benefit from the findings of this study as it will provide more information in the lifestyle and food consumption pattern as well as the anthropometric status of people living in the chosen study area, which will aid them in giving nutritional recommendations, and advice to the respondents.
Click “DOWNLOAD NOW” below to get the complete Projects
FOR QUICK HELP CHAT WITH US NOW!
+(234) 0814 780 1594
Login To Comment