(P10-075-24) Energy and Nutrient Intakes of Mothers and Children Assessed by Weighed Food Intake Compared to Recommended Intakes in Rural and Urban Households in Ghana

Objectives: The double burden of malnutrition (DBM) is a public health concern in Ghanaian households. Most previous studies in Ghana have assessed intakes using self-report methods, which are known to be prone to underreporting. This study aimed to assess the energy and nutrient intakes of rural and urban Ghanaian mothers and children using a gold standard method, compared to recommended intakes (RNIs).

Methods: Dietary intake data from mothers, adolescents, and children under five (CU5) in 60 HH (30 rural, 30 urban) were collected using 3-day researcher-conducted weighed food records. Nutritional analysis was done using custom software programmed with West African, Kenyan, Ugandan, FNDDS, and USDA food and nutrient databases. Energy intake (EI) and selected nutrient intakes were compared within and between rural and urban, and to RNIs.

Results: Rural vs urban mothers, adolescents, and children were aged 35.8±11.6 vs. 44.4±7.6 (p=0.002), 14.4±2.6 vs. 14.9±2.7 (7 (p=0.671), and 2.1±1.0 vs. 3.6±0.7 (p=0.047) y, respectively. BMI was 28.2±5.5 and 28.2±5.1 kg/m2 in rural and urban mothers, respectively. BMI-for-age percentile ranges for rural adolescents were 4-69 (males) and 28-59 (females), while those for urban were 6-46 (males) and 7-49 (females).

EI of mothers, adolescents, and CU5 were 2026±461, 1776±492, and 912±306 kcal/d (rural), and 1669±385, 1577±532, and 898±496 kcal/d (urban), respectively. In urban, maternal vs adolescent, and adolescent vs CU5 EI did not differ significantly from their RNIs. Urban CU5 EI exceeded RNI but that for mothers did not (p=0.044), and rural mothers EI exceeded RNI but CU5 did not (p=0.038). Rural adolescents exceeded energy RNI while CU5 did not (p=0.042).

In urban, 26.3% of adolescents had inadequate fiber intake, 15.8% of adolescents, and 11.8% of CU5 had inadequate calcium intake. Some urban mothers, adolescents, and CU5 did not meet the iron RNI (14.3%, 21.1%, and 17.6%, respectively). Few rural adolescents (7.1%) had inadequate vitamin A intake.

Conclusions: The coexistence of excess EI and inadequate fiber and micronutrient intakes were apparent in our sample, confirming the persistence of the DBM.

Funding Sources: This work was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Georgia Agricultural Experimental Station.