Nutrient intake and consumption of indigenous foods among college students in Limpopo Province

Objective. To determine the habitual diet and the consumption of indigenous foods among college students in Limpopo province. Design. The sample consisted of 37 healthy student volunteers (18 males and 19 females) aged 23.3 ±2.38 years, with a body mass index of 22.7 ±2.32 kg/m2. A validated quantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to collect information on the habitual diet of the participants. Nutrient analysis was done using FoodFinder. Results. Mean dietary intakes were 10 042 kJ, 16.3% protein energy, 28.9% fat energy and 54.8% carbohydrate energy for females, and 12 050 kJ, 16.7% protein energy, 26.4% fat energy and 56.9% carbohydrate energy for males. The contribution of fat, carbohydrate and protein to total energy intake was similar for males and females. Frequency of food item consumption varied among students with indigenous foods consumed less often. Consumption of indigenous foods was similar in male and female subjects. Conclusion. The habitual diet of the college students was estimated, and compared favourably with other reported data. However, patterns of indigenous food consumption were difficult to estimate. Although the number of indigenous foods used was high at 28 of 60 food items, consumption in terms of both quantity and the total number of students consuming these foods was low. Further studies are needed to determine the patterns of indigenous food intake and the contribution of these foods to total nutrient intake. South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition Vol. 18 (1) 2005: 32-3

Association of Alcohol Consumption with Specific Biomarkers: A Cross-sectional Study in South Africa

Alcohol consumption plays an important role in the health transition associated with urbanization in developing countries. Thus, reliable tools for assessing alcohol intake levels are necessary. We compared two biological markers of alcohol consumption and self-reported alcohol intakes in participants from urban and rural South African communities. This cross-sectional epidemiological survey was part of the North West Province, South African leg of the 12-year International Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study which investigates the health transition in urban and rural subjects. A total of 2,010 apparently healthy African volunteers (35 years and older) were recruited from a sample of 6,000 randomly-selected households. Alcohol consumption was assessed through self-reports (24-hour recalls and quantitative food frequency questionnaire) and by two biological markers: percentage carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (%CDT) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT). Of the 716 men and 1,192 women volunteers, 64% and 33% respectively reported regular alcohol consumption. Reported mean habitual intakes of drinker men and women were 29.9 (\ub130.0) and 23.3 (\ub129.1) g of pure alcohol per day. Reported habitual intake of the whole group correlated positively and significantly with both %CDT (R=0.32; p 640.01) and GGT (R=0.43; p\u22640.01). The correlation between the two biomarkers was low (0.211; p 640.01). GGT and %CDT values should be interpreted with care in Africans as self-reported non-drinker men and women had elevated levels of GGT (19% and 26%) and %CDT (48% and 38%). A need exists for a more specific biological marker for alcohol consumption in black Africans

Die voedingsoorgang in Suid-Afrika: ’n Uitdaging vir verbeterde voeding en die verligting van armoede

Developing countries, including South Africa, are lagging behind in reaching the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These countries are at present experiencing a nutrition transition that is an outcome of economic development, urbanisation and acculturation. In this article, the nutritional situation in South Africa based on anthropometric characteristics of its population, is briefly reviewed. The vicious cycle between poverty, undernutrition and an increased vulnerability for over-nutrition and related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is explained and hypothesised to be a major determinant of the coexistence of under-nutrition and over-nutrition in developing countries. In South Africa the coexistence of under-nutrition and over-nutrition underlies a double burden of high morbidity and mortality from both infectious and noncommunicable diseases, which is further exacerbated by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic. Clearly, it would be difficult to escape this intergenerational vicious circle of poverty and malnutrition, without optimising the nutritional status of all women who plan to become pregnant. There are many psychological reasons, apart from nutrition transition, why people eat more than they need to, including an inherent partiality for refined, sweet, salty and fatty foods. A conceptual framework, based on the constitutional right to food and nutrition security, is proposed to guide policy makers to plan holistic, integrated, transdisciplinary and multisectorial interventions to address under-nutrition and over-nutrition simultaneously.<p>Individuals should be empowered, facilitated and motivated by appropriate education and training programmes and by strategies to improve socio-economic situations to be able to buy or produce food and to make healthy choices. This food environment will be created only if there is a common agenda, or even legislation, to improve the nutritional status in multisectorial and transdisciplinary programmes. The Directorate of Nutrition in the South African Department of Health has an excellent integrated nutrition strategy, but lacks the required implementation capacity. More public health nutritionists should be trained and other health professionals should be better equipped to implement nutritional interventions in all poverty alleviation and health promotion programmes.</p

An introduction to the revised food-based dietary guidelines for South Africa

Food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) are short, positive, science-based messages that aim to change the eating behaviour of the general population towards more optimal diets that meet energy and nutrient requirements, while simultaneously helping to protect against the development of noncommunicable diseases. Recently, a national working group revised the South African set of FBDGs (i.e. the draft paediatric FBDGs and the general FBDGs). Expert working groups have written technical support papers for each of the individual revised FBDGs published in this supplement of the journal. The recognition that child malnutrition remains a major public health problem in South Africa led to the formulation of a specific set of guidelines for the mothers and caregivers of infants and young children from birth to five years of age, based on existing paediatric nutrition-related health issues and local dietary habits. In this introductory paper, the process of the development and revision of the FBDGs for South Africa is briefly reviewed. The need for specific FBDGs is motivated by prevailing health risk factors and dietary intakes in South Africa. Potential barriers to the implementation of the guidelines are identified and recommendations are made for the development of educational material, as well as for the design of implementation, monitoring and evaluation programmes. It is concluded that the use of guidelines to educate and empower mothers and caregivers, as well as schoolchildren, adolescents and adults, on how to follow a healthier diet, could be a powerful tool in combating both under- and overnutrition-related public health problems throughout the life cours

Evidence for relatively greater subcutaneous fat deposition in stunted girls in the North West Province, South Africa, as compared with non-stunted girls

Objective: we examined differences in body composition between stunted and non-stunted girls, with adjustments for confounding factors.Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted in a representative sample of 478 African school girls, ages 10 to 15 y, in the North West Province, South Africa. Height, weight, skinfold thicknesses, and waist and mid upper arm circumferences were measured by trained biokineticists using standard methods. Trained fieldworkers measured dietary intakes by 24-h recall, and physical activity was measured by using the physical activity recall of the previous day. Body mass index and physical activity category were calculated.Results: stunted girls had significantly lower weight and skinfold thicknesses than did non-stunted ones. After including the covariates: age, years since menarche, school, type of housing, dietary energy and fat intakes, physical activity category, body weight, and stratum of urbanization in analysis of variance, the mean sum of triceps skinfold and subscapular skinfold thicknesses of stunted girls was greater than that of the non-stunted girls (P &lt; 0.002). Stunted subjects were less active than non-stunted ones.Conclusion: this manifestation of relatively more subcutaneous fat and greater waist circumference in stunted girls may be involved in the development of obesity among black women in South Africa

The nutrition transition in Africa: can it be steered into a more positive direction

The objective of this narrative review is to examine the nutrition transition and its consequences when populations in Africa modernize as a result of socio-economic development, urbanization, and acculturation. The focus is on the changes in dietary patterns and nutrient intakes during the nutrition transition, the determinants and consequences of these changes as well as possible new approaches in public health nutrition policies, interventions and research needed to steer the nutrition transition into a more positive direction in Africa. The review indicates that non-communicable, nutrition-related diseases have emerged in sub-Saharan Africa at a faster rate and at a lower economic level than in industrialized countries, before the battle against under-nutrition has been won. There is a putative epigenetic link between under- and over-nutrition, explaining the double burden of nutrition-related diseases in Africa. It is concluded that it is possible to steer the nutrition transition into a more positive direction, provided that some basic principles in planning public health promotion strategies, policies and interventions are followed. It is suggested that sub-Saharan African countries join forces to study the nutrition transition and implemented interventions on epidemiological, clinical and molecular (genetic) level for better prevention of both under- and over-nutrition