Iodine deficiency in children 7-19 years old in Eastern Province of Cameroon.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of iodine deficiency in children in Eastern Province, Cameroon. METHOD: Urinary iodine (I) and thiocyanate (SCN) excretion levels were assessed in 158 children (62 boys and 96 girls) aged 7-19 years. RESULTS: Mean urinary iodine excretion was 4.49 microg/dl for girls and 4.71 microg/dl for boys, lower than the 5.0 microg/dl minimal value defined by WHO. Overall 64.42% of subjects had urinary iodine excretion below the minimum, more than three times the population percentage (20%) at which a zone is declared endemic. Mean urine SCN concentration and mean I/SCN ratios of the study population were 2.57 +/- 1.43 mg/dl and 2.21 +/- 1.35 microg/mg for boys and 2.91 +/- 1.57 mg/dl and 1.91 +/- 1.1 microg/mg for girls. CONCLUSION: Iodine deficiency remains a problem in Eastern Province of Cameroon.

Metabolic and hormonal effects of five common African diets eaten as mixed meals: the Cameroon Study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate glycaemic and insulinaemic index and in vitro digestibility of the five most common Cameroonian mixed meals consisting of rice+tomato soup (diet A), bean stew+plantains (B), foofoo corn+ndolé (C), yams+groundnut soup (D), and koki beans+cassava (E). SUBJECTS: Ten healthy non-obese volunteers, aged 19-31 y, with no family history of diabetes or hypertension. INTERVENTIONS: A 75 g oral glucose tolerance test followed by the eating of the test diets with carbohydrate content standardized to 75 g every 4 days with blood samples taken at 0, 15, 30, 60, 120 and 180 min. In vitro digestion of each diet according to Brand's protocol. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Plasma glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, insulin and C-peptide, with calculation of glycaemic and insulinaemic index defined as the area under the glucose and insulin response curve after consumption of a test food divided by the area under the curve after consumption of a control food containing the same amount of carbohydrate, and digestibility index. RESULTS: Glycaemic index (GI) varied from 34.1 (diet C) to 52.0% (diet E) with no statistical difference between the diets, and insulinaemic index varied significantly from 40.2% (C) to 70.9% (A) (P=0.03). The digestibility index varied from 18.9 (C) to 60.8% (A) (P<0.0001), and did not correlate with glycaemic or insulinaemic indices. However, carbohydrate content correlated with GI (r=0.83; P=0.04), digestibility index (r=-0.70; P<0.01), and insulinaemic index (r=0.91; P<0.01). Plasma C-peptide and plasma lipids showed little difference over 180 min following the ingestion of each meal. CONCLUSIONS: Glycaemic index of these African mixed meals are relatively low and might not be predicted by in vitro digestibility index.

Standardized comparison of glucose intolerance in west African-origin populations of rural and urban Cameroon, Jamaica, and Caribbean migrants to Britain.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of glucose intolerance in genetically similar African-origin populations within Cameroon and from Jamaica and Britain. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Subjects studied were from rural and urban Cameroon or from Jamaica, or were Caribbean migrants, mainly Jamaican, living in Manchester, England. Sampling bases included a local census of adults aged 25-74 years in Cameroon, districts statistically representative in Jamaica, and population registers in Manchester. African-Caribbean ethnicity required three grandparents of this ethnicity. Diabetes was defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) 1985 criteria using a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (2-h > or = 11.1 mmol/l or hypoglycemic treatment) and by the new American Diabetes Association criteria (fasting glucose > or = 7.0 mmol/l or hypoglycemic treatment). RESULTS: For men, mean BMIs were greatest in urban Cameroon and Manchester (25-27 kg/m2); in women, these were similarly high in urban Cameroon and Jamaica and highest in Manchester (27-28 kg/m2). The age-standardized diabetes prevalence using WHO criteria was 0.8% in rural Cameroon, 2.0% in urban Cameroon, 8.5% in Jamaica, and 14.6% in Manchester, with no difference between sexes (men: 1.1%, 1.0%, 6.5%, 15.3%, women: 0.5%, 2.8%, 10.6%, 14.0%), all tests for trend P < 0.001. Impaired glucose tolerance was more frequent in Jamaica. CONCLUSIONS: The transition in glucose intolerance from Cameroon to Jamaica and Britain suggests that environment determines diabetes prevalence in these populations of similar genetic origin.