ABSTRACT Background: Knowledge of the nutritional composition of foods is absolutely indispensable for proper diet therapy and dietetic counselling. Cow hide (wele), cow intestines, cow tripe, and cow foot serve as special delicacies in Ghana, but the nutritional composition of these animal products are either missing in the Ghanaian food composition tables or have not been updated for over 40 years. Furthermore, the Ghana food composition tables do not have any information on the fatty acid ...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Football is a popular sport. Footballers will perform better if their nutritional status is optimum. Iron is a nutrient required for performance. Energy expenditure must be met to maintain performance. Creatinine levels indicate kidney function and electrolyte balance to some extent. Aim: This study assessed energy expenditure and iron status of premier league footballers in Ghana Methods: Registered footballers in three teams in the First Capital Plus Premier League, B...
ABSTRACT Background: Vegetarianism is a dietary lifestyle that involves the restriction of diet, disallowing some or all foods of animal origin, thereby consuming mainly foods of plant origin. Vegetarian diets are composed of only plant products which include fruits and vegetables, as well as grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. The plant products they consume are rich sources of vitamins such as Vitamins A, C and E which act directly as antioxidants, as well as protein and minerals such as zinc,...
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 Introduction: To protect, promote and support breastfeeding, WHO/UNICEF introduced the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) to eliminate negative hospital practices that interfere with successful lactation. BFHI has been associated with increased EBF. However in Ghana, no study has been done to assess the impact of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative on breastfeeding. This study was done to determine the effect of hospital status – Baby Friendly and Non-Baby Friendly on infan...
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: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for six months confers several benefits to infants. It reduces infections and mortality and improves mental and motor development. The prevalence of EBF in Ghana is far from optimal having reduced from 63% in 2008 to 46% in 2011. Poor feeding practices during early childhood have been shown to contribute to stunting. The Upper East region of Ghana has 32% of its children under five stunted. Objective: To assess breastfeeding and complementary...
ABSTRACT Background: Childhood obesity is becoming very common worldwide and similar trends are being seen in Ghana. Various researches have shown that several genes are linked to obesity. Several genes including adrenoceptor beta 3 (ADRB3) gene have been implicated. ADRB3, is mainly expressed in adipose tissue, and contributes to variations in energy expenditure and body fat distribution. Polymorphisms of the ADRB3 have been suggested to participate in the pathogenesis of obesity. There is n...
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 Zinc is a micronutrient indispensable for growth, development, reproduction, and for the activities of over 2 0 0 enzymes embracing all physiological activities. Zinc deficiency in the preschool age group therefore leads to growth faltering, wasting, stunting and general degeneration in physiological activities. In rural areas of Egypt and Iran where zinc deficiency was first identified, dietary factors of plant origin ( especially phytic acid and fibre), which impair zinc absorption...
ABSTRACT Background: Infants who are not exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life are given a wide variety of other foods or drinks during the period to complement or replace breast milk, these food items are termed Breast Milk Substitutes (BMS). Inadequate Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) is associated with increased infant morbidity and death. In Ghana about one-third of infants under six months old are not exclusively breastfed suggesting reliance on breast milk substitutes (...
ABSTRACT Background: Infants who are not exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life are given a wide variety of other foods or drinks during the period to complement or replace breast milk, these food items are termed Breast Milk Substitutes (BMS). Inadequate Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) is associated with increased infant morbidity and death. In Ghana about one-third of infants under six months old are not exclusively breastfed suggesting reliance on breast milk substitutes (...
ABSTRACT Tomato (Solanum lycopersicon L.) is a major horticultural crop with an estimated global production of over 153 million metric tons. It is the most important fruit vegetable and the second most widely cultivated crop in the world after potato, with a total production of about 141 million tons. In 2009, the average total yield in Ghana was 7.5 Mt ha-1 compared to the achievable yield of 15.0 Mt ha-1. The tomato industry in Ghana for the past decade has been bedevilled by a myriad of pr...