Food intake and dietary diversity of farming households in Morogoro region,Tanzania

The Tanzanian economy depends heavily on agriculture and hence human labor provides much of the power needed for farming activities. This study was carried out to determine the diversity and dietary adequacy of farming households in four selected districts of Morogoro region in Tanzania. Adult household members from 140 households participated in the study. A 24-hour dietary recall, dietary diversity score and frequency of food consumption tools were used to assess and quantify nutrient intake and adequacy of consumed diets in farming households. Tanzania food composition tables were used to compute estimates of the energy intake, macro and micronutrients consumed by farming households. Analysis was done using SPSS version 18 and Microsoft excel version 10. Cereal food group was consumed in relatively large quantities compared to other food groups in the surveyed households. The contribution of cereal group to energy intake was 75-82%, protein 8-16% and fat 9-14%. Stiff porridge made of maize flour was the mostly consumed cereal dish followed by rice. The mean intake of energy per day was inadequate; the intake of energy for men was 1402 kcal/day while for female was 1347 kcal/day meeting only 52% and 72%, respectively of the recommended energy intake. Generally, the consumption of protein from the animal sources was significantly low in all districts. Ninety-nine percent of the households rarely consumed eggs; 83% rarely consumed meat and poultry. Consumption of milk and milk products was inadequate as 92% of the households indicated that they rarely consumed these products. The intake of fat was also low by 53% compared to the recommended intake for adults. The intake of iron, zinc, and calcium was 40, 53 and 64%, respectively, which was not sufficient to meet daily requirements. Low intake of nutrients was generally attributed to inadequate food intake due to low feeding frequency, poorly diversified diets and sub-optimal practices in food preparation and cooking. The results from surveyed areas indicated that all districts are rich in terms of bio-diversity and food availability, nevertheless the consumption of these foods in the study communities was inadequate with regards to quantity and quality. This situation compromises nutritional status and pre-disposes farming households to diseases and infections hence affects work output, labor productivity and wealth generation. Educating farmers on the importance of consuming diversified and adequate diets from different food groups will improve their nutrition situation and stimulate more production hence increased agricultural productivity.Key words: Dietary adequacy, Dietary diversity, Nutrition status, Tanzania farming household

Nutrient Adequacy of Foods Consumed among Adult Population Residing in Urban Parts of Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania

International Journal of Innovative Research & Development,may result to poor nutritional status. However, determining the level of nutrient intakes may be used to establish nutritional adequacy of the diet consumed. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing nutrient adequacy of diet consumed by adult’s population in urban area of Dar-es-salaam. A cross sectional study was conducted among 270 adult’s population aged 25 to 64 years. Dietary intake was assessed by using a repeated 24hr dietary recall method and Nutrient adequacy ratio for energy, protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, cholesterol, iron, zinc and calcium was calculated. Mean age (years) of the subject was 38 ± 10.5 years. On average energy intake was2295.6 ± 264.6 Kcal. Average intake for protein, fat and carbohydrate were 65.6 ± 11.5g, 79 ± 18.5g and 337.2 ± 46.8g respectively. Mean saturated fat intake was 53.9 ± 14.9g. Other nutrients analyzed were fibre (23.9 ± 5.3g), iron (11.7 ± 2.8mg), zinc (8.2 ± 1.5mg) and calcium (299.8 ± 204.4mg). Mean dietary diversity score was 8where by more than 50% of the subjects consumed at least 8 food groups. Average nutrient adequacy ratio for energy was (0.86), fat (1.27), protein (1.05), carbohydrate (1.1), saturated fat (4.15), fiber (1.07), iron (0.31), zinc (0.89), calcium (0.3)and the mean adequacy ratio (MAR) for energy intake and 8nutrients was 1.22. Food consumed provided adequate nutrients due to composition of different foods groups. However, the nutrient adequacy ratio for calcium was very low compared to saturated fat which had a cut-off of 1, indicating that more fat has been consumed than recommended level. This may result in developing metabolic risk factors that contribute to the increase of non-communicable diseases. Therefore, promotion of diversified diets in a right proportion should be advocated to build a health society

Women empowerment and the nutrition status of children aged between 6-59 months

Journal of Nutrition and Health Sciences 2020Malnutrition remains a concern in the central province, despite being the most productive province in terms of Agriculture. Most studies in the province have not paid attention to the importance of women empowerment and the nutrition outcomes of the population. In light of this knowledge gap, this study focused on the Women’s empowerment and the nutrition status of children aged 6-59 months. The study assessed the extent to which women are empowered in agricultural activities. This study sought to determine the association of women empowerment and nutritional status of children aged 6-59 months in Kapiri-Mposhi district in the Central Province of Zambia. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using a structured questionnaire. A total of 99 households were randomly sampled and the nutritional status of one child from each household assessed using anthropometric measurements. A total of 99 children were included in the study. Up to 21% of the children were stunted; 2% were wasted; and 9% underweight. There was a significant relationship between access to credit or income opportunities and Z-scores for wasting (WHZ) (p<0.05). This study suggests that further investment into women’s access to income may help improve the nutrition status of children

Preferences and consumption of pigeon peas among rural households as determinants for developing diversified products for sustainable health

Article of sustainability 2020,Pigeon peas are legumes with a high nutritional value. Existing studies of pigeon peas in Tanzania mainly examine production and marketing, but little has been documented with respect to consumer preferences and the consumption of pigeon peas. This study assesses the preferences surrounding pigeon peas and their consumption as bases for the development of diversified and shelf-stable products for nutrition and income improvement. This study comprised 303 randomly selected farming households. Furthermore, 60 farmers participated in six focus group discussions in the Lindi region. A structured questionnaire and a checklist with guided questions were provided for data collection. The analysis uses SPSS (V.21), with di erences between groups established using Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests. The associations were tested using Spearman’s at p < 0.05. The mean pigeon peas consumption during the harvesting and lean seasons was 80 g/person/day and 18 g/person/day, respectively. The frequency of consumption was higher during the harvesting season (92%) than the lean (29%) season. The majority of farmers (91%) preferred to consume the local variety, with 84% of them consuming pigeon peas as stew. Five pigeon pea recipes exist in the area. The farmers identified availability, taste, source of income, and familiarity as the factors determining pigeon pea consumption and preferences. With limited recipes and other barriers limiting consumption, the creation of innovative ideas for the development of diversified and shelf-stable products fitting their consumption preferences is needed

Food intake and dietary diversity of farming households in Morogoro Region, Tanzania

Journal article 2016, pp. 11295-11309The Tanzanian economy depends heavily on agriculture and hence human labor provides much of the power needed for farming activities. This study was carried out to determine the diversity and dietary adequacy of farming households in four selected districts of Morogoro region in Tanzania. Adult household members from 140 households participated in the study. A 24-hour dietary recall, dietary diversity score and frequency of food consumption tools were used to assess and quantify nutrient intake and adequacy of consumed diets in farming households. Tanzania food composition tables were used to compute estimates of the energy intake, macro and micronutrients consumed by farming households. Analysis was done using SPSS version 18 and Microsoft excel version 10. Cereal food group was consumed in relatively large quantities compared to other food groups in the surveyed households. The contribution of cereal group to energy intake was 75-82%, protein 8-16% and fat 9-14%. Stiff porridge made of maize flour was the mostly consumed cereal dish followed by rice. The mean intake of energy per day was inadequate; the intake of energy for men was 1402 kcal/day while for female was 1347 kcal/day meeting only 52% and 72%, respectively of the recommended energy intake. Generally, the consumption of protein from the animal sources was significantly low in all districts. Ninety-nine percent of the households rarely consumed eggs; 83% rarely consumed meat and poultry. Consumption of milk and milk products was inadequate as 92% of the households indicated that they rarely consumed these products. The intake of fat was also low by 53% compared to the recommended intake for adults. The intake of iron, zinc, and calcium was 40, 53 and 64%, respectively, which was not sufficient to meet daily requirements. Low intake of nutrients was generally attributed to inadequate food intake due to low feeding frequency, poorly diversified diets and sub- optimal practices in food preparation and cooking. The results from surveyed areas indicated that all districts are rich in terms of bio-diversity and food availability, nevertheless the consumption of these foods in the study communities was inadequate with regards to quantity and quality. This situation compromises nutritional status and pre-disposes farming households to diseases and infections hence affects work output, labor productivity and wealth generation. Educating farmers on the importance of consuming diversified and adequate diets from different food groups will improve their nutrition situation and stimulate more production hence increased agricultural productivity