ABSTRACT

This study sought to determine the dietary pattern and the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases in rural and urban population ofAkwa Ibom State. The study was a community based descriptive cross-sectional study carried out among adults aged 30 years and above. The study sample comprised of246 respondents drawn from 3 rural and 3 urban local government areas ofAkwa Ibom State, using multiple sampling technique. A semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used for data collection on dietary pattern, socio economic/demographic characteristics, prevalence of noncommunicable diseases and factors that influence choice offood. The questionnaire was validated by lecturers from Michael Opara University ofAgriculture, Umudike. The data obtained were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics (version 20), The data were analyzed using frequency distribution tables, cross tabulation, Pearson correlation and linear regression. The dietary consumption revealed that Garri (80.9%), fufu (57.7%) and rice (56.5%) were the mostly consumed carbohydrate food. Fish (80.5%), egg (22.3%) and goat meat (20.7%) were the mostly consumed protein food. Palm oil (88.9%) was the mostly consumed fat. Vegetable rich soups were consumed more than thrice a week by 79.3% of the respondents. The consumption ofsalt was higher in the rural respondent while consumption offruit was higher in the urban respondents. The results showed that the self-reported prevalence ofnon-communicable diseases was 19.9% and it is higher in the rural (26.8%) than in the urban respondents (13.0%). Hypertension was the most prevalence non-communicable diseases (11.1%). The burden ofNCDs was higher in the respondents above 40 years of age. Using Pearson’s correlation, there was relationship between fat consumption, body mass index (BMI), waist-hip-ratio (WHR) and waist circumference (WC) at 0.01 level ofsignificance, and between carbohydrate consumption and BMI. There was also a relationship between vegetable food consumed and WC of the respondents. Using linear regression older age and low level of education were the strongest predictors ofNCDs at p< 0.05. The level of nutrition awareness was lower in the rural area. Availability offood, cost and time were the most predominant factors that affected the choice of food of the respondents. Based on these findings, it has been recommended among other things that nutritional education be enhanced and targeted at the rural areas.