C.A. Agbon’s research while affiliated with Federal University of Agriculture and other places

A study was conducted in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital with the objective to investigate if fish trahng could be a tool of poverty alleviation and socio-economic enhancement of the status of women in the household. A total of 120 correctly completed, structured and pre-tested questionnaires, out of the 150 administered to respondents, were retrieved for data analyses. Demographic data of the traders showed that all the respondents were women whose ages ranged from 15 to above 45 years. The ages of 33-45 years constituted 33.3% of the respondents while the age bracket of between 27-32 years constituted 23.3%. Majority (73.3%) were married while 25% were single-headed households (divorced or widowed). The study revealed that most of the respondents (approximately 61%) were able to meet their family expenditure jointly with their spouses while 28.3% of the respondents met the financial responsibilities of their families solely from the profit. Access to creht was found to be a major limitation. The study further revealed that 86.7% of the respondents would like to continue with the business because they were satisfied with the profit accruable to them from the trade.

Purpose – The Home Grown School Feeding and Health Programme (HGSHP) in Nigeria provides primary school pupils across the country with one meal daily. The purpose of this paper is to standardize the HGSHP meals in Osun State and determine the energy, protein and mineral contribution to the school children's daily nutrient intake. Design/methodology/approach – All the HGSHP meals served school children were studied. Questionnaire, standardization of recipe and chemical analysis were employed to evaluate the HGSHP meals and to suggest improvement. Findings – All the meals were cooked. Dishes composed of a mixture of a legume (cowpea) commonly called beans, a cereal (maize or rice) or tuber (yam) taken with a soup or stew and fish or egg. The bean meals were high in protein and carbohydrate. All the dishes had very low zinc content and did not meet 30 per cent of the school children's daily zinc requirements. Originality/value – This paper may be the first to evaluate the nutritional contribution of school meals in Nigeria.

Purpose There are no adequate records on the nutrition of the people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. This paper aims to rectify this. Design/methodology/approach Purposive sampling technique was used to select 200 PLWHA respondents at the Federal Medical Center Idiaba, Abeokuta. A pre‐tested questionnaire was used to collect information on the subjects’ socio‐demographic characteristics and health status of respondents. A three day 24‐hour recall was used to assess the food intake of the subjects. Adequacy of nutrient intake was assessed as a percentage of the recommended dietary allowance. Packed cell volume (PCV) estimation was investigated using a sub‐sample of 100 respondents. Findings The values obtained were compared with WHO/UNICEF/UNU reference values. The mean PCV for the 33 men was 31.9±6.62 while the mean value for the remaining 67 females was 29.4±4.87, which was below the reference values. A positive correlation was obtained between the PCV and energy intake ( r =0.528, 33; p <0.01) as well as serum iron ( r =0.474; p <0.01). Practical implications This study suggests that a healthy diet that is adequate in terms of energy, protein, fat, and other essential nutrients should be promoted in Nigeria as a key component of positive living for people with HIV. Originality/value This paper may be the first to evaluate the nutrient intake and health status of HIV/AIDS patients in Abeokuta, Nigeria

Objective: This study was carried out to determine the packed cell volume nutritional status and parasitic infection among preschool children living in rural villages. Subjects and Methods: A total of 116 preschool children in nine villages formed the population for this study. The preschool children were studied using anthropometric measurements, stool examination, malaria parasite determination and packed cell volume assessment. A structured pre-tested questionnaire that solicited information on the children's demographic data was also used. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, EPI Info version 3.3.2 and SPSS software package. Malaria parasite and anthropometric status were assessed using standard procedures. Result: Many of the preschool children (44.1%) had different degrees of stunting. Close to eight percent (7.8%) were severely stunted and 21.6% of them were at risk of stunting. Some of the children (16.4%) were wasted, an indication of a current malnutrition. Majority of the preschool children (94.8%) were anaemic. Many (75.9%) complained of recurrent fever episodes. More than half (60.3%) were observed with malaria parasite and 44% were observed with intestinal parasite. Conclusion: Stunting, wasting, anaemia and parasitic infections contributed to the high level of malnutrition present in the rural preschool children. Key words: Preschool children, anthropometry, anaemia, parasitic infection, rural Nigeria,

Objective: The aim of this study is to provide information on the variety and nutrient content of prepared dishes offered preschool children living in rural villages. Materials and Methods: Respondents for this study were 116 preschool children living in University Agriculture Abeokuta [UNAAB] extension villages in Ogun State south-western part of Nigeria. Representative samples of cooked dishes offered to the children were taken for three days for each child. The samples were placed in sealed food containers and were taken for proximate and micronutrient analysis. Result: Data from this study showed that the foods with the highest protein were kulikuli a groundnut cake (34.74g/100g) and fish (28.94g/100g). High energy sources came from groundnut (676Kcal) others include ogbono soup a dika nut kernel soup (288.60Kcal) and akara (fried cowpea paste) (279.84Kcal). High calcium foods include kulikuli (871.08mg/100g), akara (296.13mg/100g) and fufu a wet cassava meal (255.31mg/100g). kulikuli was also high in iron and zinc (20mg/100g and 33.22mg/100g respectively). Phytate content of the dishes ranged from 0.09mg/100g in kunu to 4.12 mg/100g in kulikuli. Phytate- zinc molar ratio was <10 for all foods. Conclusion: Most African soups and stews were low in micronutrient content. kulikuli a leguminous snack is nutrient dense and a valuable source of some essential nutrients. Phytate-zinc molar ratios of the prepared dishes were <10 indicating that the bioavailability of zinc consumed in these rural dishes is not likely to be impaired. Key words: Rural preschool children, nutrient composition, phytate- zinc molar ratio dishes

Purpose Childhood under‐nutrition remains a major health problem in resource‐poor settings like the rural areas in Nigeria. The purpose of this paper is to determine the types and nutrient adequacy of complementary foods used in a rural area. Design/methodology/approach The most frequently used (52 percent) homemade complementary food (HCF) in the area was studied, employing questionnaire, standardization of recipe and chemical analysis to evaluate the complementary food and to suggest improvement. Findings Two varieties of local beans (white and brown) were used in the preparation of HCF in the study area. They were either peeled to remove the coat or unpeeled. There was no significant difference ( p <0.05) in the protein content of the HCF made from the two varieties. Using any of the beans unpeeled children between the ages of six and eight months meet their energy and protein requirement. The calcium, iron, and zinc contents of HCF from the two bean varieties were low. Originality/value This paper may be the first to evaluate HCF using mothers' method of preparation.

This study investigated the practices adopted by mothers in their management of diarrhoea at home. Six health care centres out of ten in Odeda Local Government Area, Ogun State Nigeria were used for the study. A total of 121 mothers participated in the study. Questionnaire were used for data collection. Findings indicate that 100% of the respondents know what diarrhoea means, 57.4% had experienced it with their babies at one time or the other, while 62.6% believed that poor hygiene is the major cause of diarrhoea and 36.6% believed that it is as a result of food allergy and teething. Some mothers (43.5%) manage diarrhoea by using antibiotics and 29.6% of them use herbs.

High consumption of cassava products such as cassava fufu characterize the food habits of rural dwellers. Although cassava roots are rich in calories, they are grossly deficient in proteins, fats, and some minerals and vitamins. The nutritional hazard of cassava dependency includes chronic protein deficiency. Research toward the enrichment of cassava fufu is needed, especially for children under 5 years. This study aims to develop fufu from flours of fermented cassava and cowpea, evaluate the new cassava–cowpea fufu produced using sensory evaluation procedures, and determine their micronutrient content. Three cassava–cowpea flours BZC, FZC, and FIC were obtained. Cassava–cowpea fufu BZC was produced from cowpea seeds that were first boiled and then fermented for 2 days (48 hours). Cassava–cowpea fufu FZC was made from cowpea seeds that went through 2 days (48 hours) of fermentation, and cassava–cowpea fufu FIC was produced from cowpea seeds that were soaked for one day (24 hours). These cassava–cowpea fufus were evaluated using sensory methods and then sent to the laboratory for the determination of calcium, iron, and zinc using standard procedures. Data were analyzed using evaluation scores that were rated according to the level of acceptance or rejection of the cassava–cowpea fufu. BZC cassava–cowpea fufu was the cassava–cowpea fufu of choice and it had a higher protein content of 4.92 g than control cassava fufu FFF (0.47 g). It also had higher calcium, iron, and zinc content (79.47, 1.09, and 0.82 mg, respectively) compared to cassava fufu FFF, which had calcium, iron, and zinc values of 75.64, 0.39, and 0.19 mg, respectively. The cassava–cowpea fufu contained significantly higher amounts of protein and micronutrients than the commonly consumed cassava fufu. The addition of cowpea to cassava fufu will improve nutrition derived from cassava consumption among young children in rural areas who depend on monotonous cassava meals. This study has shown that cassava fufu can be enriched with cowpea to increase its protein and micronutrients content.