|
African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development
Rural Outreach Program
ISSN: 1684-5358 EISSN: 1684-5358
Vol. 17, No. 4, 2017, pp. 12889-12903
|
Bioline Code: nd17101
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge
|
|
African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, Vol. 17, No. 4, 2017, pp. 12889-12903
en |
DIETARY DIVERSITY AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF STREET FOOD CONSUMERS IN OYO, SOUTH WESTERN NIGERIA
Leshi, OO & Leshi, MO
Abstract
Street food is an affordable and acceptable source of dietary intake remarkable for its
high consumption in developing countries. The aim of this study was to assess the dietary
diversity and nutritional status of street food consumers in Oyo, a Nigerian urban town.
The study was cross-sectional in design. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to
elicit information on the socio-economic characteristics, consumption of street food and
a single 24hr dietary recall from 385 street food consumers in Oyo town of Oyo State.
The nutritional status of the respondents was assessed with the use of anthropometric
indices-weight (kg) and height (m) to estimate the Body Mass Index (BMI) which was
classified as Underweight (<18.5kg/m2), Normal (18.5-24.9 kg/m2), Overweight (25.0-
29.9 kg/m2) and Obese (≥30.0kg/m2. Dietary Diversity was based on the number of food
groups consumed in the previous 24hours and a Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) ranging
from 0 to 9 was constructed from a 9-food group model. The mean age of the respondents
was 38.8±12years, majority (87%) were male and 59.7% were self-employed. About
40% spent half of their income on food while 10% spent more than three-quarters on
food. More than 60% consumed street food daily, 82.1% indicated street meal as the most
preferred street food whilst snacks and beverages were preferred by only 13%. Majority
(74.0%) consumed street foods in the afternoon and about 20% in the morning. Four out
of 10 respondents had low DDS, about half had medium DDS and 10% had high DDS.
The nutritional status indicated 25.2% to be overweight while 3.1% and 6.2% were found
to be underweight and obese, respectively. A significant association was found between
the dietary diversity and nutritional status of the respondents. This study revealed that
street food consumers in the ancient town of Oyo, Nigeria were either overweight or
obese and their dietary diversity was low.
Keywords
Street food; Consumers; Dietary Diversity; Nutritional status; South Western; Nigeria
|
|
© Copyright 2016 - African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development Alternative site location: http://www.ajfand.net/
|
|