ASSESSMENT OF THE DIETARY IRON INTAKE AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF LACTATING MOTHERS IN OWERRI NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, IMO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Iron Deficiency is among the nutritional challenges of public health concern in developing countries like Nigeria. The risk of iron deficiency increases during the periods of rapid growth and during lactation. Studies on dietary iron intake and nutritional status among lactating mothers were limited. Besides, previous studies carried out on lactation involved only the relativities of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) between rural and urban lactating mothers in Owerri North. The benefits of the assessment of dietary iron to public health are to enhance adequate intake of dietary iron and forestall any iron deficiency. This study was designed to assess the level of dietary iron intake and the nutritional status of lactating mothers in Owerri North Local Government Area (LGA), Imo State, Nigeria. The study was descriptive cross sectional in design. In a systematic random sampling, 200 lactating mothers out of the 500 as at the time of the study were proportionately selected from one health facility from the five major communities in Owerri North LGA as follows: Emekuku (55), Emii (40), Uratta Amakohia (40) and Awaka (30). A pre-tested, interviewer- administered, semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information on demographic and socio-economic characteristics, dietary pattern, nutrient intake, and physical activities of the lactating mothers. Anthropometric measurements of weight and height were used to calculate and classify the body mass index (BMI) of the lactating mother as overweight (≥25.00 Kg/m2), normal (18.50 – 24.99 Kg/m2) and underweight (<18.50 Kg/m2). Dietary iron intake was assessed by the use of the food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) and total dietary assessment (TDA) was used to analyse 24- hour diet recall. The 15mg Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for iron for lactating mothers was used to determine their consumption levels. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi–square test and logistic regression analysis. Level of significance was set at 0.05. Age of the mothers and their infants were 28.0 + 4.2 years and 2.6 + 1.3 months respectively. Majority of the respondents (97.0%) were married, 53.3% had tertiary education and 44.0% were civil servants. The most frequently consumed foods by lactating mothers were green leafy vegetable (94.5%), fish (91.4%), meat (90.0%), garri (90.0%) and Rice (55.5%). The intake of nutrients were: 22.5±6.2mg iron, 2321.2 ± 565.7 kcal energy, 1040.8 ± 648.6g protein, 351.1 ± 226.3g carbohydrate, 8.8 ± 7.9g fibre and 62.5 ± 21.4g fat. Dietary iron (22.5±6.2mg) was much higher than the RDA. Proportion of the lactating mothers who engaged in physical activity were 49.0% (walking) and 41.0% (gardening). Sixty – two percent of the mothers have BMI of 26.1± 3.5Kg/m2 indicating overweight status. There was no significant relationship between level of dietary iron intake and Body Mass Index (BMI) of the lactating mothers. The findings in this study suggest that locally available food consumed by the lactating mothers in Owerri North LGA provided adequate dietary iron.However, the high prevalence of overweight lactating mothers indicates a need for nutritional intervention among them.