ABSTRACT

Food is our primary source of energy, but in spite of its usefulness in the entire wellbeing of man, food continue to pose a problem for man with regards to quality and quantity, which is an unnegotiable characteristic of developing countries like Nigeria. This study was designed to assess the food consumption, lifestyle and anthropometric status of adults living in Aba North Local Government Area of Abia state. The study was descriptive and cross sectional in design. A total of 413 respondents were selected using multi-staged sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on the food consumption, lifestyle habit, physical activity level and anthropometric status of the respondents. The result showed that majority (62.6%) were between the ages of 51-60, more than half (51.8%) of the respondents were married, a good number (47.7%) of the respondents were primary school certificate holders, majority of the respondents (94.3%) were Christians and most (40.5%) earned between N51,000 to Nl00,000. Food consumption pattern results showed that more than half (52.1%) ate three times daily, a few (19.9%) skipped meals, most (44.8%) of the adults consumed snacks. Results on the frequency of food consumption showed that most of them consumed cereals and starchy staples such as rice (56.6%), bread (31.8%) and noodles (43.0%) on a weekly basis. Beans was the most (45%) consumed legume on a weekly basis, while garri, yam and sweet potatoes were the most (68.6%, 43.0%, 43.0%) consumed tubers weekly by the respondents respectively. The result showed that more than half of the respondents consumed palm oil (51.7%) and vegetable oil (51.7%) daily. Onions (52.1%), tomatoes (56.2%) and pawpaw (43.0%) were the common vegetables and fruits consumed weekly by the respondents. Majority (64.1%) were engaged in moderate physical activity. Lifestyle habits showed that, only a few (14.4%) smoke, and about 60.3% drink at least 1 unit of alcohol. Anthropometric status information revealed that 29.4% were overweight while 21.2% were obese, with a mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25.99kgm-2, also, 18.3% were at high risk of obesity while 68.8% were at moderate risk of obesity using waist circumference and waist hip ratio assessment. The study found snacking habit was positively correlated to BMI (P=0.033) and daily food consumption (P=0.035). Physical activity was negatively correlated to BMI (P=0.023), WC (P=0.023) and WHR (P=0.038) while alcohol consumption was negatively correlated to BMI (P=0.007). The study among others recommended that it is important for adults in the- study area to engage in more physical activities, be more diverse in their food consumption and avoid lifestyles that can have a negative impact on their health