TITLE:
Simple Food Group Diversity as a Proxy Indicator for Iron and Vitamin A Status of Rural Primary School Children in Uganda
AUTHORS:
Hedwig Acham, Gaston Ampek Tumuhimbise, Joyce K. Kikafunda
KEYWORDS:
Food Group; Diversity; Iron; Vitamin A; Proxy Indicator
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.4 No.12,
December
10,
2013
ABSTRACT: Children in
resource poor settings are at a high risk of inadequate iron and vitamin A
intake when diets lack diversity and are dominated by staple foods. Yet
comparative information on diet quality among school children is scarce. The
objective of the study was to assess the potential of simple food group
diversity to serve as a proxy indicator of iron and vitamin A status among
rural school children in Uganda. A cross sectional correlation model of associations between Food Group
Diversity (FGD) and iron and vitamin A status was used. We analyzed 8
schools in Kumi District, Uganda, randomly selected from the 34 schools that
participated in the main part of the study. Our sample included primary school
children, aged between 9-15 years (n = 172). Food group diversity and food variety (FV) were calculated from both a
food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and a 24-hour dietary recall. The FGD and
FVS were tested against iron (as serum ferritin) and vitamin A (as serum
retinol) status. The FGD (based on FFQ data) was 9.6 (±1.9). There was a positive
correlation between 24-hour recall and FFQ for consumption of cereals (Corr.
Coef = 0.28; p 0.05), which was also the most highly
consumed group (98.9% & 86.9% by FFQ and 24-hour recall; respectively).
Consistent with other studies, increase in the number of food groups significantly
increased serum ferritin and serum retinol measures (p 0.001). Presence of at least one food
item in the “roots
& tubers”; “cereals”; and “pulses/nuts”, significantly increased serum
ferritin and serum retinol concentrations (p 0.01). We speculate that simple food
group diversity may reflect intake and serve as a simple indicator of iron and
vitamin A status among school children. Strategies aimed at increasing dietary
diversity in the community may benefit the families of these children and
improve their micronutrient status.