Abstract
Background: Food intake in Cameroon is based on three meals daily. The diet in rural areas is based on traditional staple foods, while that of the urban population incorporates more modern foods. The health and nutrition of adolescents is important as their eating behaviour and nutrition will affect their future health. Objective: To describe and compare food habits and nutritional status of adolescents in Cameroon. Design: A cross-sectional study using an unquantified food frequency questionnaire and anthropometric data, in urban and rural areas. Fifty-two adolescents, 12-15 years old, were selected from schools. Results: Frequencies of consumption of meat, vegetables, cereals, milk products and junk food were significantly higher in urban than in rural adolescents (11.8 vs 4.5, 9.5 vs 3.9, 16.5 vs 11.9, 5.7 vs 0.8, 24.2 vs 8.7, respectively). The frequency of in-between meals was higher in urban than in rural adolescents (4.9 vs 0.9, respectively). Arm muscle ar ea (AMA, mm2) and waist/hip ratio were significantly higher in rural than in urban adolescents (3554 vs 2802 and 0.82 vs 0.79, respectively). Body mass index (BMI, kg m-2) was higher in rural than urban adolescents, although not significant (20.6 vs 19.4, respectively). There was a positive significant correlation between BMI and AMA in urban and rural areas (r=0.67 and r=0. 72, respectively). Conclusions: Despite a lower frequency of food consumption, rural adolescents had higher AMA and waist/ hip ratio than urban adolescents. Less junk food and more traditional food consumption, more manual activities and walking in rural adolescents could explain these results. Keywords: Adolescents; arm muscle area; body mass index; Cameroon; food frequency; waist/hip
Highlights
Food intake in Cameroon is based on three main meals daily
People eat the same type of dishes based on traditional staple foods, whereas the urban population incorporates more modern foods into the diet [1, 2, 4, 5]
For the rural area all adolescents in the class who were present at the time of the study were included (n 0/26, 12 boys and 14 girls); the same number of adolescents was randomly selected from the school in the urban area (n 0/26, 13 boys and 13 girls)
Summary
Food intake in Cameroon is based on three main meals daily. The meal is composed of cereals or roots with sauce from green leaves, oil and meat/fish depending on the economic situation of the household (1Á/3). People eat the same type of dishes based on traditional staple foods, whereas the urban population incorporates more modern foods into the diet [1, 2, 4, 5]. The diet in rural areas is based on traditional staple foods, while that of the urban population incorporates more modern foods. Results : Frequencies of consumption of meat, vegetables, cereals, milk products and junk food were significantly higher in urban than in rural adolescents (11.8 vs 4.5, 9.5 vs 3.9, 16.5 vs 11.9, 5.7 vs 0.8, 24.2 vs 8.7, respectively). Arm muscle area (AMA, mm2) and waist/hip ratio were significantly higher in rural than in urban adolescents (3554 vs 2802 and 0.82 vs 0.79, respectively). Less junk food and more traditional food consumption, more manual activities and walking in rural adolescents could explain these results
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
