Browsing by Author "Tandoh, I."
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Item Association between Household Food Consumption and Dietary Intake of Children (3-6 Years) In the Asesewa Sub-District(University of Ghana, 2015-07) Tandoh, I.; Ohemeng, A.; Colecraft, E.; University of Ghana, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, Department of Nutrition and FoodBackground: Household food consumption is a dynamic process that may influence the dietary intake and nutritional status of children living in the household. Children in their first five years are nutritionally vulnerable given their increased energy and nutrient needs. As these children are completely weaned and depend solely on household foods, less attention might be paid to the adequacy and quality of diet as compared to when they were receiving complementary foods. Objective: Determining the strength of association between household dietary diversity and child dietary diversity was thus the subject of investigation in this study. Methodology: A cross sectional survey was used to obtain data from 165 caregiver-child pairs from seven (7) randomly selected communities in the Asesewa sub-district. Structured questionnaires were used to solicit information on background characteristics and nutritional knowledge of caregivers; dietary data for the child was obtained using a single 24-hour recall method and a seven (7) day food frequency questionnaire. Household dietary data was also assessed with a seven (7) day food frequency questionnaire. Finally, height and weight measurements of both caregiver and child were taken (using standard procedures) and anthropometric indices (BMI-for-age and height-for-age) were computed. The relationships/associations between the independent variables (household dietary diversity, nutritional knowledge of caregivers) and dependent variables (child dietary diversity, height- for-age and BMI-for-age) were examined using Chi-square test and logistic regression employed to assess the strength of association after accounting for certain factors of interest. Results: Results indicated that, at least 90% of all households and children consumed more from starchy staples compared to other food groups. Diets were also low in dairy products and meat products having about 44.2% and 38.8% of participants respectively consuming them. Households had a mean household dietary diversity of 9.88 ± 1.7 out of 12 food groups and about 66% of the households had a high dietary diversity. The mean child dietary diversity was 6.75 ± 1.3 out of 9 food groups, and 58.2% of them were found to have a high dietary diversity. Meals provided by the household contributed to a majority of the children meeting or exceeding the EAR for protein, energy and carbohydrate but few meeting their requirement for vitamin C (27.3%) and calcium (3.6%). The prevalence of stunting (23.6%), underweight (4.2%) and overweight (3%) reported in the study were lower than estimates from national level and other studies. Studies provided evidence of a significant association (p<0.001) between household dietary diversity and child dietary diversity but no significant association with nutritional status of the children. Households with high dietary diversity had an almost six-fold likelihood of having children with high dietary diversity compared to households with low dietary diversity (OR: 5.7; CI: 2.78 - 11.84). The nutritional knowledge of the caregivers assessed had a marginal significant association with child dietary diversity (p=0.05). There was a tendency for caregivers with high nutritional knowledge to be more likely to have children with high dietary diversity (OR: 1.8; CI: 0.98, 3.44). Conclusion: The study showed a significant association between household dietary diversity and child’s dietary diversity.Item Reducing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination in smoked fish in the Global South: a case study of an improved kiln in Ghana(Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 2019-05-11) Afoakwa, E.O.; Bomfeh, K.; Jacxsens, L.; Amoa-Awua, W.K.; Tandoh, I.; Gamarro, E.G.; Ouadi, Y.D.; De Meulenaer, B.BACKGROUND Smoked fish is a major source of animal protein in developing countries. It is largely produced by hot‐smoking on traditional kilns using fuelwood. This practice is associated with high polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination in products, with consequences for public health. An improved kiln, comprising the FAO‐Thiaroye Technique (FTT), has been introduced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to address such a concern. The present study investigated the efficacy of the FTT in Ghana through comparative fish smoking experiments with traditional kilns followed by determination of PAH levels [benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and PAH4] in the products by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. For each kiln, the effect of smoking fuel type on PAH contamination was determined. The impact of the design characteristics of the FTT on the levels of the compounds was also determined. RESULTS Mean BaP and PAH4 levels in the FTT products were up to 1.8 and 7.6 μg kg–1, respectively, whereas the corresponding levels in traditional kiln products were up to 70 and 395 μg kg–1. PAH levels in FTT products were below European Union regulatory limits, whereas levels in traditional kiln products exceed such limits by up to 33‐fold. Across kiln types, the use of wood fuels caused higher PAH contamination compared to the use of fully‐lit charcoal as an alternative fuel. CONCLUSION The improved kiln (FTT) is efficacious in yielding smoked fish with a PAH content lower than the levels in traditional kiln products and also below current regulatory limits. Kiln design and type of processing fuel have significant impacts on PAH contamination during fish smoking. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry