Nutrients Intake of Adults in Urban and Rural Households in Abia and Ebonyi States, Nigeria

Aim: This study assessed the energy and nutrient intakes of adults in Nigerian urban and rural households.

Methods: The study was conducted in forty (40) households comprising of 41 adult males and 58 adult females selected from two states (Abia and Ebonyi States) out of the five States that make up the south-eastern Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used in the selection of households. A three-day weighed food intake was conducted in all the selected households to estimate the quantity of foods consumed by the adult family members. Nutrient intakes of individual adult family member were calculated using food composition tables and compared with the recommended nutrient intake (RNI). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Student’s t-test was used to compare means across locations (urban/rural) and significance accepted at p 0.05.

Results: Energy intake was lower for Abia subjects (72.9-95.6% RNI) than for Ebonyi (96.3-104.7% of RNI). Protein intake ranged from 66.4-113.2% of RNI in Abia and 74.2-98.9% of RNI in Ebonyi. Irrespective of location, female subjects had very low intake of iron (37.8-49.8% of RNI) compared to their male (91.6-126% of RNI) counterparts. Zinc intake (92.1-123.3% of RNI) was much better than calcium intake (50.9-80.9% of RNI) in both states irrespective of gender. Vitamins A (190.0-698.8% of RNI) and C (262.4-463.3%) intakes were adequate for all subjects investigated. Thiamin, riboflavin and niacin intakes were generally low (46.6-88.2%) in Abia and (54.7-91.1%) in Ebonyi States. There were few exceptions: Adult males and females in urban Ebonyi met 117.7 and 91.3% of their RNI for thiamin respectively.

Conclusion: Rural and urban female subjects in both States did not meet their recommended iron requirement and the urban subjects had higher intake in most nutrients than their rural counterparts in Abia State while in Ebonyi State, the reverse was the case for calcium, vitamin A and vitamin C.