ABSTRACT Childhood undernutrition remains a key issue of concern to many countries, in the post 2015 global agenda for development with many developing countries particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) being affected. Undernutrition is a leading contributor to child morbidity and mortality being culpable for half of global child mortalities. Nutrition sensitive approaches are being advocated for sustainable outcomes, in the fight against malnutrition in vulnerable populations. Food based str...
ABSTRACT High adult mortality due to various causes like HIV and AIDS has led to an upward trend of the number of orphans and vulnerable children. Extended family networks have taken the responsibility of caring for these children but lack of adequate resources for their care has forced the caretakers of these children to take them to orphanages. As a consequence to the ever-increasing number of orphans, there has been mushrooming of orphanages in the country. Appropriate childcare practices ...
ABSTRACT Adolescents regularly participating in sports and do not meet their energy intake may develop several medical conditions, such as disordered eating, menstrual dysfunction, and decreased bone mineral density, collectively referred to as the Female Athlete Triad (FAT). Limited data is available on components of FAT in adolescent athletes of African descent. This study’s aim was to investigate the presence of the components of the female athlete triad amongst a group of junior long fe...
Several community milk cooling plants were constructed and equipped in Western Kenya counties through joint funding of the World-Bank and the Government of Kenya between the years 2008 to 2016 to promote milk production and marketing. A recent study revealed that utilization of these milk cooling plants and farmer participation was low. Market participation in sub-Saharan Africa has been assessed mainly based on already producing households without considering decision to produce by non-produ...
ABSTRACT Subclinical vitamin A (VA) deficiency (VAD) continues to be a global problem widely affecting children within 1,000 days of life. Western Kenya experiences high infant mortality partly attributable to VAD. A community based cross-sectional survey among children 6-23 months was undertaken in Western Kenya. Socio-demographic and dietary intake information were collected. Analysis of retinol-binding protein (RBP) and C-reactive protein (CRP) was undertaken to estimate VA and sub-clinica...
ABSTRACT Background: In Ghana, more than 60 % of under 6 year old children are estimated to suffer from sub-clinical vitamin A deficiency. Bio-fortification is the process of breeding nutrients into crops and it provides a relatively economical, sustainable way of giving out more micronutrients. Cassava is also the leading crop in terms of energy intake and per capita consumption in Ghana thus bio-fortifying cassava with provitamin A can improve the vitamin A composition of this staple food a...
ABSTRACT Zinc is an essential micronutrient found in almost every cell in the body. Nutrient needs are highest during adolescence, surpassed only by needs during pregnancy and lactation. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of zinc deficiency among adolescents in Ghana and to relate this with dietary intake of zinc and phytate. A total of 300 adolescents between ages 13-19 years were recruited from the Greater Accra and Upper East Regions for the study. Questionnaires were u...
ABSTRACT Background: Eating out (EO) has been identified as a significant driver to the poor quality of diet due to the high fat, sodium and energy content of meals which have a negative consequence on nutritional health, resulting in overweight/obesity and related non-communicable diseases. The study sought to assess EO lifestyle and associated factors; assess the nutrient content of some selected meals from fast-food restaurants (FFRs) in Accra; and associations of EO lifestyle with selec...
ABSTRACT HIV/AIDS is a public health problem that is increasingly having its toll on human resources, particularly given the fact that the most vulnerable age group is the youth. Even though tremendous achievements have been chalked through the use of antiretroviral drugs, these drugs are expensive and unaffordable by PLWHA in Ghana. Good nutrition has therefore been deemed as a complement to anti retroviral drugs for maximum benefit to this group of people. Ironically, most studies into the ...