Vitamin A Food Sources and its Consumption Pattern in a Rural Community in South-Eastern Nigeria

Objective: This study was undertaken to identify the dietary sources of vitamin A and also to determine the consumption pattern of vitamin A in Aba South L.G.A. Methodology: A total number of one hundred and sixty-three households were selected. A random sampling technique was adopted. Questionnaire was designed to provide information on the socio-economic, food habits and food consumption pattern of vitamin A rich food sources in the households. Information was collected on diet history (24-hour diet recall) by interview. Data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed using frequencies and percentage. Results: The results showed that 65% of the respondents purchased palm oil while 35% processed palm oil by themselves. More than half (51.6%) of the respondents consumed palm oil 4 to 5 times weekly and 37.4% consumed palm oil 2-3 times weekly. However, 11% consumed palm oil daily. About 6% produced carrots with {90-3600 Retinol Equivalent (RE)} while 87.1% purchased it, pumpkin leaf with (300RE) were purchased by 22.7% and 65.6% produced same. Less than a quarter (19.3%) of the respondents consumed fruits and vegetables daily and only 0.2% spent above N2,000 on fruits and vegetables weekly. Twenty four hour dietary recalls revealed that 23.9% consumed pumpkin leaf, 16.0% consumed pawpaw while 14.1% consumed mango. Conclusion: It was noted that most of the vitamin A rich food sources were not grown but purchased in the area. This might have predisposed the respondents into low consumption of these foods because of poor purchasing power. Home gardening in the area should be encouraged. Index Term-Vitamin A foods, Consumption pattern, Aba South, Abia State Background of study.