Assessment of the iron status of school children aged 7-12 years in selected schools in Ogun State

Background: Iron deficiency as a public health problem is based on the seriousness of its consequences on human health and there may be need for certain measures to curb the menace of such deficiency. Objectives: This study assessed the iron status of rural and urban school age children in selected Local Government Areas in Ogun State. Methods: A structured pre-tested questionnaire was used to obtain information on the socio economic characteristics and blood samples of the selected children were analysed for biochemical parameters (heamoglobin (Hb), White blood cells and differentials, Serum ferittin (SF), C-reactive protein (CRP), and Reticulocyte count) using standard procedures. Data were analysed using frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviation, correlation, and Ttest with SPSS software. Result: Results showed that 36.3% of the respondents’ families earned less than two hundred thousand naira annually. Also 40.1% (rural) and 59.4.0% (urban) of the mothers had secondary and tertiary education, respectively. The study further revealed that the prevalence of iron deficiency was 23.7%, anaemia was 16.3% while 13.1% of the anaemic children were due to iron deficiency with significant sector (p=0.003) and gender (p-0.032) differences. The range of Neutrophills, Lymphocytes, Monocytes, Basophils and Eosinophils were 3.31 to 3.88, 3.03 to 4.38, 0.53 to 0.59, 0.03 to 0.04, 0.33 to 0.38, respectively while that of heamoglobin, CRP and reticulocyte range from 11.73 to 12.14 (p=0.000), 3.92 to 3.32(p=0.002) and 0.83 to 0.89 respectively. Correlation revealed a significant relationship between annual income and hemoglobin (r= 0.132), mothers education and PCV (r=0.180), mothers age and serum ferritin (r=0.159), also childs age and heamoglobin(r=0.144). Conclusion: The study concluded that a significant relationship exist between socio economic status and the markers of iron status in the children. Hence, the study recommended a policy to improve school feeding programmes coupled with better access to basic social services including education and health care

Evaluation of nutrient composition, functional and sensory attributes of sorghum, pigeonpea and soybean flour blends as complementary food in Nigeria

Child malnutrition, due to poor quality of complementary foods, is a major cause of mortality among children in many sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria inclusive. The study aimed to develop a nutritious complementary food from Nigeria’s staple foods. Complementary food was developed from flour blends of sorghum, pigeonpea and soybean with the help of D-optimal mixture design, using Design Expert 9.0. The proximate and antinutrient composition, functional and sensory properties of the blends were determined. One-way analysis of variance was employed to analyse the data, and Duncan’s multiple range test used to separate the means at p < 0.05. The moisture (8.60 - 9.71%), crude protein (21.84 – 22.63 %), crude fat (2.57 – 2.94 %), crude fibre (5.15 – 5.94 %), ash (3.71 – 4.12 %) and carbohydrate (56.06 – 57.44 %) contents of the blends varied significantly (p < 0.05) among the flour blends. The proteincontent of the blends increased as legumes increased in the formulation. There were significant (p < 0.05) differences in the antinutrient composition and pasting properties of the flour blends. Significant (p < 0.05) differences occurred in the functional properties of the blends except water absorption capacity. All the complementary foods were acceptable but the one obtained from flour blend of 71.4 % sorghum, 14.4 % pigeonpea and 14.3 % soybean had the highestoverall acceptability score. Hence, a nutritious and acceptable complementary food could be produced from flour blends of sorghum, pigeonpea and soybean.Key words : Sorghum, pigeonpea, soybean, complementary food, antinutrien

Performance of broiler chickens fed graded levels of poultry meat meal

A 49 days experiment was carried out on the performance of broiler chickens fed poultry meat meal. 150 day old Arbor acre broiler chickens were divided into 5 dietary treatments of 3 replicates with 10 birds per replicate in a completely randomized design. Diet 1 had 100% fishmeal as the control (T1) while the poultry meat meal was added to diets T2, T3, T4, T5 at 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% replacing fishmeal respectively. The result obtained showed that the weight gained and average daily weight gained of broiler chickens fed Diet T5 (100) % had the highest mean (1624.33g/bird and 33.22g/bird). The breast, drumstick, thigh and the back cut showed that birds fed diet T5 had higher values than birds on other diets. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in the values of spleen, heart and lungs across the diets. There was progressive decrease in cost/kg of feed with increase in inclusion of poultry meat meal: T2 (₦182.20), T3(₦179.20), T4(₦176:20), T5(₦173:20). The cost of feed consumed and cost of production showed that it was costlier to produce birds on T1 than birds on other diets with T5 having the least cost and highest revenue (₦1756.67) and gross margin (₦906.86). It was concluded that the inclusion of poultry meat meal in broiler diet improved growth, higher carcass yield and enhanced economic values. Therefore, T5 (100%) total replacement of fishmeal with poultry meat meal is recommended.Keywords: poultry meat meal, broiler, fish mea

Nutritional, sensory qualities and recommended daily allowances of novel dishes from cassava root

Objective: This study investigated the nutritional quality and sensory acceptability of some novel food products (steamed cassava, cassava pottage, cassava French fries, cassava pancake) from fresh cassava roots.Materials and Methods: Proximate, mineral and cyanide composition of the products were determined using Standard Analytical Procedures. Samples were subjected to sensory evaluation.Results: Moisture, protein, fat, ash, crude fibre, total carbohydrate and energy contents of the products ranged from 26.72 to 55.51%, 1.37 to 6.82%, 8.23 to 45.34%, 1.12 to 2.09%, 1.00 to 2.36%, 32.26 to 59.78%, and 220.35 to 551.70%, respectively. Iron, zinc, calcium and sodium contents ranged from 0.33 to 3.83 mg/100g, 0.28 to 1.47 mg/100g, 34.05 to 60.63 mg/100g, and 5.12 mg/100 g to 6.45 mg/100g, respectively. Cyanide content ranged between 2.32 mg/100g and 4.09 mg/100g. The mean score for taste, colour, flavour and overall acceptability in all the samples were not significantly different (P>0.05), while that of texture were significantly different (P<0.05). The study revealed that 100 g of all the products contributed significantly to the %RDA of energy except for cassava pancake, significant contribution was also made by all the products to the %RDA of carbohydrate.Conclusion: The results from this study showed that safe, nutritious and organoleptically acceptable novel food products can be produced from fresh cassava. In order for these products to meet nutritional requirement and also be used for nutrition intervention programmes, supplementation and fortification of either the base ingredients or the products during preparation is of utmost importance.Keywords: nutrient composition, steamed cassava, cassava pottage, cassava French fries, cassava pancak

Nutritional status and the risk of obesity among market women in Offa Local Government Area, Kwara State

Background: Obesity has been declared a global epidemic and linked to nutrition transition in developing nations.Objective: This study assessed the nutritional status and risk of obesity amongst market women in Offa, Kwara State.Methods: A total of 353 market women were sampled. Data were collected using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire adapted from WHO STEP-wise approach to surveillance-instrument. Anthropometric measurements [(Weight, Height, Waist circumference (WC), Hip circumference (HC)] were conducted using standard procedures. Nutrients intake was estimated using 24-hr dietary recall. Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist Hip Ratio (WHR) were calculated and compared with WHO standard. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics while Pearson product mean correlation was used to establish relationship between variables.Results: The result shows that 70.8% of the respondents were between 31 – 60 years, while 25.1% were above 60 years. About 71.9% engaged in moderate physical activities, 28.1% engaged in light activities. Majority (77.3%) ate three times daily, 8.5% ate more than three times daily. BMI classification revealed that 25.2%, 29.2% and 41.6% were normal, overweight and obese, respectively. Dietary intake revealed that nutrient intake was more than 100% RDA for energy, protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamin B12, iron, and calcium. There was a significant association 12 between body mass index, and body fat, body mass index and waist hip ratio of respondents (r=0.453, p < 0.05).Conclusion: Overweight and obesity rate were high, low physical activity level and sedentary lifestyles were observed, nutrient intakes showed excess consumption of calories. There is need for...Keywords: Nutritional status, Obesity risk, Market wome

Optimization of Drying Conditions and Effect of Storage on Some Quality Attributes of Tomato Powder

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L) fruit is rich in nutrient and antioxidant properties. Drying accelerates some reactions that adversely affect the product quality especially nutritional value. Optimization of the drying process for Eva tomato was conducted to obtain a powder with high nutritional value and functional properties. The physical, chemical and microbiological properties of fresh Eva tomato fruit were determined. Central composite design of response surface methodology was used to obtain 13 combinations of drying temperature (60-70 ° C) and drying time (12-18 h). Tomato powder samples from the experimental runs were analyzed for chemical, functional and antioxidant properties using standard laboratory procedures. Tomato powder dried at optimum drying conditions were stored in low density polyethylene (LDPE) and laminated aluminum foil (LAF)] for three months at room temperature (28±2 °C) and analyzed for selected properties. Optimum tomato powder was obtained at 66.32 °C for 16 h and characterized by moisture (9.91%), lycopene (45.67 mg/100 g), vitamin C (15.23 mg/100 g), and redness (53.46) among other properties. Generally, an increase in the drying temperature and drying time caused a decrease in moisture content, β-carotene, pH, and bulk density while ash, total soluble solid, total titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, lycopene, non-enzymatic browning, total phenol, antioxidant activity, scavenging activity, bulk density, water absorption capacity and solubility content increased. Optimized powder stored in LAF had better properties. Keywords: Tomato, drying, optimization, food quality

Quality Attributes of Custard Prepared from Selected Varieties of Sweet Potato Starch Enriched with Soy Protein Isolate

The study investigated the effect of soy protein isolate (SPI) addition on the quality attributes of custard from selected varieties of sweetpotato starch (SPS). Starch was prepared from orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSPS) and yellow-fleshed sweetpotato (YFSPS). Simplex lattice design was employed to obtain the various combinations of SPS and SPI. Proximate composition, instrumental colour, functional and pasting properties of the sweetpotato starch and the blends were determined. The sensory attributes of the optimized custard samples with the commercial custard were determined using t-test. The protein and ash contents increased while the fat and carbohydrate contents decreased as the inclusion level of SPI increased in the blends. The addition of SPI significantly decreased (p<0.05) the dispersibility, packed bulk density; peak, trough, breakdown, final and setback viscosities but increased the least gelation concentration, water absorption capacity and swelling power of the blends. There was significant (p< 0.05) difference in the sensory attributes of cooked custard prepared from the optimized blends and the control sample. In conclusion, blending 80% OFSPS with 20% SPI; and 75% YSPS with 25% SPI produced acceptable custard

Maternal nutritional knowledge and nutritional status of under-five children in selected rural communities in Ogun State, Nigeria

Background: Maternal nutritional knowledge can play a critical role in the improvement of nutritional status of childrenObjective: This study assessed the nutrition knowledge of mothers and nutritional status of underfive children in selected rural communities of Ogun-State, Nigeria.Methods: Multistage sampling technique was used in selecting the respondents (n=232). A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-economic and demographic characteristics, nutrition knowledge of mothers and anthropometry of the under-five children. Nutritional knowledge was assessed using a 20 - point scale standardized general nutritional knowledge questionnaire, while nutritional status of children was evaluated using WHO growth standard of 2006.Results: About 20.7% of the mothers had high nutritional knowledge, 35.8% had moderate nutritional knowledge while 43.5% had low nutritional knowledge. Furthermore, 98% of the mothers have knowledge that children less than six month would grow better on breast milk alone yet 83% and 93.5% gave water to quench thirst and herbal tea to aid recovery from illness, respectively indicating a gap between knowledge and practice. Anthropometric assessment indicated that 14.2% of the children had moderate to severe wasting, 33.6% were stunted while 17% of the children were underweight. Among the socio-economic characteristics of parents, education and income had significant (p<0.05) relationship with wasting among the children while parents' occupation, education and income had a significant (p<0.05) relationship with underweight and mid upper arm circumference (MUAC).Conclusion: There is need to create opportunities for maternal income generation, enhanced occupation and education in order to improve the nutritional status of the children.Keywords: Under-five children, Nutrition Status, Maternal Nutrition Knowledg