Calcium Knowledge and Consumption Pattern of Calcium-rich Foods among Female University Students in South-west Nigeria

Abstract

Calcium plays a vital role in the prevention of Osteoporosis; Peak bone mass is attained in the early years of life before 30 years. The study assessed the calcium knowledge and consumption pattern of calcium-rich foods by female University students. This cross-sectional study involved 400 randomly selected female undergraduate students of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Information collected included; socio-demography/economy, the source of calcium information and 20-calcium knowledge questions from literature. Consumption pattern of calcium-rich foods was assessed with a modified food frequency questionnaire. Our study showed mean age was 19.8 ± (2.2) years; calcium knowledge score was 10.1(±3.7). Half (51.5%) of the respondents had good knowledge about calcium, while 48.5% had poor knowledge. The majority (47.3%) of the respondents got information on calcium from academic sources, 14.0% from family/friends, about 7.0% from health personnel and 1.0% from the media. Only 18.4% frequently consumed milk/dairy products, about 20% frequently consumed calcium-rich fish and fish products, while 8.9% and 5.8% frequently consumed legumes/nuts and fruits/vegetables that are rich sources of calcium. Receiving calcium information from academic sources was associated with significantly higher calcium knowledge scores (X2=9.535, p=0.002). Having lower calcium knowledge was significantly associated with infrequent consumption of spinach (X2=5.227, p=0.022) and okra (X2=6.337, p=0.012). The respondents that received calcium information from non-academic sources (family/friends, health personnel, media) were 0.6 times less likely to have good calcium knowledge, (OR=0.548, 95% C.I. =0.316 to 0.951, p=0.033). A high percentage of the respondents had poor calcium knowledge, infrequently consumed calcium-rich foods and were not knowledgeable about the role of calcium in the prevention of osteoporosis. Thus, there is a need to intensify calcium education interventions through the non-academic avenues, especially the media.