COVID-19 preventives consumed in South Africa versus other Sub-Saharan African countries

Background: The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been of global concern as it has affected the health of many and the economies of nations. In order to strengthen the immune system against COVID-19, certain plant-source foods were consumed. Aim: This study was designed to identify and compare various special foods and drinks consumed to prevent COVID-19 during the lockdown in various sub-Saharan countries in comparison to South Africa (SA), as well as highlighting some current dietary recommendations. Setting: Online cross-sectional survey in six African countries, namely South Africa, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia and Kenya. Methods: After sample size determination, an online questionnaire was designed and content validated. The survey link was pretested on 25 people and then circulated for 6 weeks during total lockdown. The proportion of responses for each question were reported using descriptive statistics. Results: Half of the 817 participants surveyed were not consuming anything special for COVID-19 prevention. South Africans mostly reported the consumption of supplements or conventional medicines (mainly vitamin C and zinc) while for other countries, a variety of natural foods and drinks were mentioned ­ some having already proved helpful in boosting immune systems. They included infusions of spices with or without honey, fruits and vegetables, medicinal drinks and local beverages. Conclusion: Programmes and campaigns designed to increase awareness of dietary measures for COVID-19 prevention have proved beneficial and should be promoted. Analytical evaluation of the nutritional and health benefits and antiviral potentials of the identified special foods would help in determining which foods to prioritise and promote in the fight against COVID-19. Contribution: This study shows the possibility of finding dietary solutions for managing the pandemic and 'preventive' potentials of certain plant substances.

Snack Consumption Pattern of Adults in the University of Calabar & its Health Implications

Aims: To determine the snack consumption pattern of adults and the effect of consumption of certain snacks on the health status of adults in the University of Calabar. Study design: Cross-sectional survey. Place and Duration of Study: University of Calabar, Calabar - Nigeria. June to July, 2017. Methodology: After a multi-staged random sampling technique, a cross-sectional survey was carried out on 400 adult respondents using a well-structured questionnaire. Food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and 24hour dietary recall were also administered to the respondents. The data obtained from the survey instruments were analysed with the aid of Microsoft excel. For the dietary intake assessment, Food and Agricultural Organisation’s (FAO) ‘Guidelines for Measuring Household and Individual Dietary Diversity’ was used to calculate individual’s dietary diversity score (DDS) before recording. Results: It was observed that 84% of the respondents skipped meals and breakfast was the most skipped meal followed by lunch. Most people (46%) skipped breakfast because they left early for work while majority who skipped lunch did so because they had no time for food at work (53%). Only 8.6% of the respondents did not eat snacks, and most of those who consumed snacks did so because they preferred snacks to food (32%). The most commonly consumed snacks among the respondents was pastries (36.5%), followed by biscuits (25.7%) while the least consumed snacks were vegetables (1%) followed by sweets and gums (1.1%). Consequently, pastries contributed the most snack calories to the study population. Conclusion: Most people skip meals; and snacks serve as a substitute for such skipped meals. Only few people frequently consume healthy snacks such as fruits and vegetables. Most people were discovered to eat pastries as snacks and these pastries (such as cakes and pies) are highly processed foods which could increase the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in their consumers.

Contribution of Eggs and Other Cholesterol-containing Foods to Total Dietary Cholesterol Intake, and Their Influence on Serum Lipid Profile of Adults in Calabar, Nigeria

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.