Obese and Overweight People Food Profile in Brazzaville, Congo

Abstract

In Congo Brazzaville, there are two factors that early led the country to turn to importation of meat and agricultural products from developed countries: low performances in both livestock farming and agriculture sectors and the popula-tion growth of people who preferably live in urban centers. The association of those two factors has impacts on people nutritional status. This present study, for the first time, shows the actual situation of overweight and obese people food profile in Congo Brazzaville what shall enable to elaborate a database and take further necessary measures to address the issue. To do so, a food consumption study has been carried out in the nine neighborhoods of Brazzaville, the capital city of the republic of Congo, and concerned 65 households. So, it appears that, of the 26.2% of the investigated people, 58.5% were women. The women were the dominant gender, aged between 31 and 40 (p?0.001). The women who were living alone represented 84.5% and those who were living in couples represented 15.5%. Those investigated people had a low education level: 73.3% of them only attended junior high school. Their households’ monthly income was low too. The households whose sizes ran from 7 to 8 people represented 21.3% and those living with three meals a day at home represented 85.7%. The majority of the investigated people that lived on food dominated by animal proteins represented 92.3%, those living on oilseeds represented 90.8% and simple carbohydrates represented 98.5%. Fruit and vegetables, rich in micronutrients and fibers, were not eaten enough: fruit 3.1% and vegetables 1.5% (p ? 0.001). 86.2% of overweight and obese people had sport activities restrictions. So, people in Brazzaville, according to the above fig-ures, adapt to behavior that leads to obesity. That is why, for such a population, we must initiate a food education and fight bad behavior that leads to obesity.