ABSTRACT

Ultra-processed foods are industrial formulations made mostly or entirely from substances derived from foods and additives, with little, if any, intact food. Ultra-processed foods are food that is high in fats, sugar and salt. This study assessed the consumption of ultra-processed foods, knowledge, dietary pattern and anthropometric status of adults (18-80) years in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State. This study was cross sectional and multi-stage random sampling was used to 440 adults aged 18-80 years from the household in Ohafia L.G.A. Data were collected with the use of a well-structured and validated questionnaire to obtain information on background and socio-economic characteristics, awareness, knowledge, dietary pattern and anthropometry status of the respondents. Data obtained was analysed with the use of statistical package service software (SPSS) version 20.0. The result obtained was presented in frequency and percentage. Result of the finding shows that 59.6% of the respondents were within the ages of 26-55 years , more than half (56.1%) of the respondents were female which is due to the study area and about 32.9% of the respondents household size are of 3-4 persons. The result also indicated that 43.4% of the respondents had tertiary education. The result also showed that 33.6% of the respondents were trader while 19.5% were civil servants. The result also showed that less than half (40.5%) of the respondents earn below N30, 000 monthly. Majority (90.1%) of the respondents have heard about ultra-processed food and about 45.4% of the respondents heard it from health centre and hospitals. Furthermore, more than half (62.5.2%) of the respondents had an average knowledge about the constituents of ultra-processed foods while 14.7% had poor knowledge of it. The result showed that more than half (57.9%) of the respondents skip meals, while 42.1% of the respondents do not skip meals. About 68.1% of the respondents’ skipped breakfast, while 22.7% skipped lunch. About 42.5% of the respondents had normal body mass index while 46.5% of the respondents who participated in the study were overweight whereas few (9.8%) were obese. Half (50.0%) of the respondents consume instant noodles once in a week, 41.3% of the respondents consume pizza rarely and 53.4% of them never consume Shawarma which can be linked to the knowledge the respondents had. The result of this findings showed an average knowledge of ultra-processed foods constituent’s by the respondents which could be linked to their consumption pattern as the foods were fewer consumed which in turn affects their nutritional status as few of the respondents were obese and good numbers of them had a normal nutritional status. Therefore, there should be an effective provision of nutrition education to the adults so as to understand the complication attached to consumption of ultra-processed foods and its effect on nutritional status.