Dietary diversity and nutrient intake adequacy among women in Iwo Local Government Area, Osun State Nigeria

Dietary diversity has been considered a potential 'proxy' indicator to reflect nutrient intake adequacy. The study assessed the Dietary Diversity and Nutrient Intake Adequacy among adult women in Iwo Local Government (LGA) area of Osun State. Apparently healthy 250 adult women (20-59) were the respondents in the study. The anthropometric measurements of the respondents were taken using standard equipment. A 24-hour dietary recall questionnaire was used to assess the food intake of the respondents, which was converted into nutrient intake using adapted Total Dietary Assessment (TDA) software. Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) was created using a 15-food group model. Nutrient intake was evaluated using Nutrient Adequacy Ratio (NAR). Mean adequacy ratio (MAR) was calculated as an indicator of nutrient intake adequacy. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used for analysis of the data collected. More than half (56.4%) of the respondents had normal body weight, 15.2% were underweight, 21.2% were overweight and 7.2% were obese. The diet of the respondents consisted of food items mainly from food groups such as cereals, white roots and tubers, vitamin A-rich vegetables, spices, condiments and beverages. Fruits and foods from milk and milk products were the least consumed. The mean DDS was 8.29±1.3, 4.4% of the respondents had high DDS, 94.4% had minimum DDS and 1.2% had low DDS. The MAR was 2.56±0.69, the intake of some nutrients such as carbohydrate, fat, iron, zinc and protein was above the recommended dietary intake and there was inadequate intake for some nutrients such as calcium, vitamin C and potassium among the respondents. Consumption of foods from groups such as meat and meat products, eggs and poultry and fish were found to be significantly related with nutrient intake adequacy as respondents with adequate intake of nutrients consumed more from these food groups. These results indicate that dietary diversity is an indicator of nutrient intake adequacy. Most of the respondents consumed foods from cereals, white roots and tubers, vegetables, legumes, oil and fats, spices and condiments than from other food groups.Keywords: Dietary-diversity, Nutrient, Women, Food-groups, Overweight, Micronutrient, Adequacy, Nigeri