ABSTRACT

Dietary pattern is the general profile of food and nutrient consumption which is characterized on the basis of the usual eating habits. Ultra-processed food products are made from processed substances extracted or refined from whole foods which includes, hydrogenated oils and fats, flours and starches, variants of sugar, and cheap parts or remnants of animal foods; with little or no whole foods. This study assessed the consumption of ultra-processed foods, dietary pattern and anthropometric status of adults 18-45 years in Aba South Local Government Area, Abia State Nigeria. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design whereby 443 respondents were randomly selected for the study. Data was collected from the respondents with the use of a well-structured and validated questionnaire and it was analyzed with the use of Statistical package for social science (SPSS) for windows version 23.0. The findings of the result was presented in frequency and percentage. The result showed that more than half (61.2%) of the respondents were of the age range 18-25 years, 33.8% were of 26-41 years and only 5.0% were of 42-45 years. The result showed that less than half (44.7%) of the respondents were males and more than half (55.3%) were females. The result showed that majority (86.2%) were Christians, whereas 8.4% and 5.4% practiced Tradition and Islam respectively. The result showed that majority (83.5%) had the household size between 1-6 persons, while 13.8% had 7-9% persons and 2.7% had 10 persons and above. The result showed that more than half (64.8%) of the respondents were Igbos, 8.8% were Hausa and 26.9% were Yorubas and other religions. The result showed that 17.6% of the respondents had no formal education, while 35.7% attended primary-secondary school and very many (46.6%) had tertiary education. The result showed that majority (77.0%) of the respondents earned below N 60,000 per month, while 9.7% earned between N 61,000-N 90,000 and 13.3% earned from N 91,000 and above. The result showed that 6.1% of the respondents worked as civil/public servant, 7.7% were farmers, 50.3% were students, whereas 13.5% were artisans and 2.5% were unemployed. The result showed that vast majority (86.9%) of the respondents consumed ultra-processed food and only few (13.1%) do not. The result showed that 28.2% of the respondents consumed soft drinks, 25.3 consumed packaged bread and 13.3% consumed pizza and chocolate bars. The result showed that majority (70.4%) of the respondents’ skipped meals and 29.6% never skipped meals. The result showed that 40.7% skipped breakfast, 37.2% skipped lunch, whereas 11.9% skipped dinner and 2.7% skipped breakfast and lunch. The result showed that vast majority (90.1%) of the respondents consumed snacks and only very little (9.9%) do not take snacks. The result showed that 25.3% of the respondents consumed soft drinks daily, 40.6% consumed it once a week and 12.4% consumed it 2-3 times a week. The result showed that 24.4% consumed doughnuts daily, 27.3% consumed it once a week and 21.1% consumed it 2-3 times a week. The result showed that 12.4% consumed flavored yoghurt daily, 20.1% consumed it 2-3 times a week and more than half (52.8%) never consumed it. The result showed that 2.7% consumed Shawarma daily, 9.3% consumed it once a week and majority (67.7%) never consumed it. The result showed that 7.9% consumed beer daily, 19.2% consumed it once a week and 27.8% consumed it 2-3 times a week. The result showed that the nutritional status of the respondents were very poor following the findings by anthropometric measurement, 26.4% were overweight, 6.8% were obese whereas 33.4% had underweight as well as normal body mass index (BMI). The findings proved lack of nutritional knowledge and awareness as regards consumption of ultra-processed foods and its influence on nutritional status. Again, the findings indicated poor dietary pattern and voracious consumption of unhealthy and non-nutritious foods. Therefore there should be an urgent intervention by nutritionist, dietitians and other health related professions in addressing the pandemics.