ABSTRACT
Aim: Eggs have sometimes been regarded as unhealthy foods due to their relatively high cholesterol content. The aim of this study is to determine contribution of eggs and other cholesterol containing food to total dietary cholesterol and their influence on serum lipid profile of adults. Study Design: Cross sectional and experimental. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biochemistry, University of Calabar, Calabar. February to July 2017. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey to determine consumption pattern was carried out on 400 respondents using food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and 24 hour dietary recall. The respondents were further grouped into four based on their reported weekly egg consumption. A detailed follow-up study was conducted on 50 participants selected from across the 4 groups, using a 3-day repeated 24 hour dietary recall to determine their consumption of egg and other cholesterol-containing foods. Serum blood lipid profile of these 50 participants was also determined using Randox cholesterol test kits. Food composition tables were used to calculate dietary cholesterol intake (DCI). The mean DCI of the 4 groups were cross-tabulated with mean serum cholesterol levels. Percentage contribution of eggs and other frequently consumed cholesterol-containing foods (such as milk and fish) to total DCI was calculated. Statistical significance was accepted at p = .05. Results: For the follow-up participants, it was observed that results of correlations between DCI and the lipid profile parameters showed negative correlation (at p = .01) in both males and females, except slight positive correlations between cholesterol intake and HDL-c (r=0.191) among the males, and cholesterol with TC (r=0.265) among the females. Apart from this, no association was observed between DCI and the lipid profile parameters. Furthermore, the > 5eggs/week group had the lowest TC and LDL-c (4.23±0.19 mmol/L and 2.38±0.10 mmol/L). Based on the respondents’ consumption patterns, eggs (boiled and fried) contributed the highest- 34.8% to total DCI, followed by milk (15.9%); salad cream contributed lowest (0.3%) to total DCI. Conclusion: Increased DCI from cholesterol-containing foods (such as eggs), did not cause an adverse increase in serum cholesterol levels of normocholesterolemic people.
ABSTRACT
The study was undertaken to determine the intake of vitamin A and C and plasma concentrations of these vitamins among in-school adolescents. The factors affecting the vitamin status of these adolescents were also determined. Data for this report were obtained from a cross-sectional survey of 600 in-school adolescents in Nsukka local government area (LGA) of Enugu State, Nigeria. Ninety and 45 of the adolescents were randomly selected for determining plasma concentrations of vitamin A and C and intake of these vitamins respectively. Dietary assessment was done using a three-day weighed food intake method. Venous blood samples were collected and used for determining plasma vitamin A using the trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) method, while plasma vitamin C was determined by the thiourea method. Values obtained were matched against standards. The intake of vitamin A by all the adolescents was adequate (126-137% of recommended intake), while the intake of vitamin C was inadequate (51-91% of recommended intake). The mean intake of vitamin C was higher among males (23.7 +/- 0.71-27.3 +/- 8.0) than among females (15.3 +/- 2.8-19.5 +/- 5.1). Despite the adequate intake of vitamin A, 40% of the male and 32% of the female adolescents had low plasma concentrations of the vitamin (< 20 microg/dL). On the other hand, concentrations of plasma vitamin C were low among about 47% of these adolescents. Using multiple regression analysis, the two most important variables influencing vitamin A status were household size (b = -0.629; p < 0.0 1) and nutrition knowledge (b = -1.372; p < 0.01), while for vitamin C status, these were household size (b = -0.110; p = 0.05) and age (b = 0.226; p < 0.05). The daytime students had a significantly (p < 0.05) better vitamin A and C status than the boarders. The prevalence of vitamin A and C deficiencies among the adolescents may be more than estimated due to inadequate intake and/or poor bioavailability. This may pose a serious health risk for adolescents. There is, therefore, a need for adequate nutrition education and awareness about healthy lifestyles among Nigerian adolescents.