ABSTRACT 

This epidemiological study was to elicit information on the consumption pattern of antioxidant-rich foods among middle-aged adults in Enugu North local government area, Enugu State, Nigeria. Four hundred adult men and women aged 40-60 years were used for the study. Multiple- staged stratified random sampling technique was used for the selection of the subjects used for the study. The respondents were randomly selected from 10 streets in the 5 urban zones making up the Enugu North local government area. A structured questionnaire with the personal interview was the instrument used for data collection. Information was collected on the demographic characteristics, chronic diseases that affected the respondents, general knowledge of food nutrients, concepts of antioxidant, free radicals, sources and their health implications and on consumption pattern of antioxidant rich foods. Also, data on the length of consumption pattern of antioxidant rich foods and those factors that could hinder adequate consumption of antioxidant rich foods were elicited. The statistical package for socials sciences SPSS version 12 was used for the data analysis. Percentages, frequency, mean and standard deviation were employed for the data analysis. Analysis of data revealed that 74% of the respondents were females and 26% were males, 78.8% were married, 85% had higher education and 80% were civil servants. Revealed also was that 75% of the respondents were affected by varied chronic diseases. Altogether, 790 chronic illnesses were discovered as some respondents had more than one disease at a time. Females (76.7%) were with chronic illnesses while males had 23.3%. Subjects 40-50 years with chronic illnesses were 69.2%, while those 51-60 were 30.8%. The chronic diseases and their distribution were grouped into ten and they included 17.0% diabetes, 28.6% arthritis, 32.7% eye related problems, 30.0% heart, 19.8% brain and 19.9% cancer related problems. Uncovered also were, 9.1% fibroid, 17.5% prostatitis, 21.3% peptic ulcer/gastritis and 2.9% adult asthma/hiccoughs. Most of the respondents (85%) knew little or nothing about the nutrient contents of the various foods they consumed. The result also showed that the respondent’s concepts of antioxidants, free radicals, sources and health implications were below the mean value. The subjects were found to have consumed inadequate amounts of antioxidant rich foods. Majority groups (79.1%, 56.9%, 76.1%, 59.9%, 81.4% and 72.5%) of the respondents had negative consumption practice to intakes of the antioxidant rich fruits, vegetables, grain/legumes, food additives, beverages, and snacks, respectively, for over 20 years. On the other hand, minority groups (21.9%, 43.1%, 23.9%, 40.1%, 18.6%, and 27.5%) had positive practice to consumption of the antioxidant rich food groups, respectively, with exception of the antioxidant rich animal products that had a high percentage of 80.5% consumption practice. Ten factors including ignorance, scarcity, cultural background, upbringing, foreign, fear of system intolerance, poor knowledge of preparation, poor colour acceptance, religious beliefs and time for preparation of such foods appeared to contribute to inadequate consumption of the essential nutrients. It is therefore concluded that many factors including poverty, lack of knowledge or ignorance of the immense nutritional importance of antioxidant foods were responsible for their inadequate consumption. Probably as a result of these, a high percentage of the respondents were affected by different chronic diseases.