ABSTRACT Background: Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining mainly from the consumption of meat, poultry, seafood and flesh of any animal while depending mainly on foods of plant origin. Vegetarian diets are typically low in fat, particularly saturated fat and high in dietary fibre, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. Plasma total cholesterols and low density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol levels of vegetarians are consistently lower than non- vegetarians. Although vegetarians do not e...
ABSTRACT Background: Adequate serum vitamin D levels in children has been proven to improve bone health, reduce the risk of type 1 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and many other diseases in life. The serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D is the best biomarker in measuring vitamin D status in the body. It is able to reflect both vitamin D levels that the body receive from sunlight and dietary sources. Little is known about the vitamin D status of the population in Ghana especially among school age child...
ABSTRACT Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death globally: more people die annually from CVDs than from any other cause. An estimated 17.3 million people died from CVDs in 2008, representing 30% of all global deaths. In Africa, CVDs are the main non-communicable disease and account for 9.2% of total deaths in the region. In Accra, CVDs increased from being the 10th most frequent cause of death in 1966, to the number 1 cause of death for the years 1991 and 200...
ABSTRACT Background: Childhood malnutrition remains a public health challenge in Africa. The original aim of the Ghana School Feeding Programme was to improve school enrolment and attendance with secondary aim to alleviate hunger and malnutrition among school aged children across every region. The aim of this study was to investigate the nutritional status of the SAC enrolled in the GSFP. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 300 randomly selected 6-12 year aged school ch...
ABSTRACT Background: Nutritional factors such as micronutrient deficiencies and excess gestational weight gain have been reported to be involved in the development of oedema in preeclampsia. Oedema is one of the common symptoms of preeclampsia. This study aimed to determine nutritional factors associated with oedema as a risk factor for preeclampsia among a cohort of pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in the La-Nkwantanang-Madina municipality of the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Metho...
ABSTRACT This project report, submitted to the University of Ghana, was on the efficacy of commonly purported ergogenic aids used by athletes. Literature review was conducted on 77 substances to ascertain their ergogenic effects. Possible adverse effects on health and legality were also looked at. Only five (6%) of the supplements had clear scientific support for their ergogenic effects. These include alkaline salts (sodium bicarbonate, sodium citrate), caffeine (including sources of caffei...
ABSTRACT Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a chronic genetic blood disorder common among people of African descent. The disease places nutritional burden among affected individuals which affect their nutritional status. The aim of the study was to determine the dietary intake and nutritional status of children with sickle cell disease and determine the associations of severity of illness with dietary intake and nutritional status. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out ...
ABSTRACT Background: The ageing process involves physiological and nutritional changes and many health issues have been associated with these changes. Poor oral health, which affects chewing and swallowing is common in the ageing population (≥50years) and has an influence on their overall nutrition and general health. A number of studies have linked missing teeth and other oral issues to poorer diets, however not many studies have related these results to effects on BMI, energy and micronu...
ABSTRACT Background: Chronic diseases such as type-2 diabetes require continuous medical care and ongoing patient self-management education and support to prevent multiple complications and premature mortality. Adequate nutrition knowledge and appropriate dietary habits play key roles in the nutritional management of type-2 diabetes. Therefore, providing adequate nutrition information and skills on indicators such as good diet, physical activity, and health have been shown to improve the well...
ABSTRACT Background: Young adults experience significant life changes which often give them prime control over their nutritional choices; there is however limited information from developing countries on the factors that influence nutritional habits in this life stage. This study sought to provide data on the nutrition information acquisition behaviours, how weight was perceived and managed by a sample of young adults living in the Accra metropolis. Methods: This study was cross-sectional inv...
ABSTRACT Background: Child undernutrition and poor childcare still remain a great concern in Ghana. Maternal employment has increased rapidly due to the demand of increased household income thus giving mothers a double burden of responsibility as income earners and primary child caregivers. These multifaceted roles by mothers could adversely affect the nutritional status and the overall health status of the child. Objective: To assess the relationship between maternal employment, child care a...
ABSTRACT Background: Epidemiological transitions characterized by increasing urbanization and changing lifestyle factors have resulted in an increase in the incidence of non-communicable diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in sub-Saharan Africa. The WHO country profile for Ghana shows that 18% of deaths in 2010 were as a result of CVD. In Africa more than 40% (and up to 50%) of adults in many countries are estimated to have high blood pressure. Other risk factors such as obesit...
ABSTRACT Background: Adequate serum vitamin D levels in children has been proven to improve bone health, reduce the risk of type 1 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and many other diseases in life. The serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D is the best biomarker in measuring vitamin D status in the body. It is able to reflect both vitamin D levels that the body receive from sunlight and dietary sources. Little is known about the vitamin D status of the population in Ghana especially among school age child...
ABSTRACT Background: Hypertension is the leading risk factor for death worldwide and is beginning to be recognized as a significant public health problem in developing countries. Secondary data obtained from the Upper Manya District assembly’s 2011 health report showed a 92 % sharp increase in the Out Patient Department attendance of hypertension cases between 2009 and 2010 only. A number of factors including diets high in fat and low in potassium, magnesium and calcium have been implicated...
ABSTRACT Background: Over the past few decades, there has been an increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus globally, with an increase in mortality. The most effective ways of controlling diabetes mellitus are through medication and lifestyle modifications primarily diet and physical activity. Evidence suggests that the Mediterranean diet is effective in the management of chronic diseases including diabetes mellitus. Some studies have investigated the adherence to this diet amon...