Investigation on the Prevalence of Nutrition on the Onset of Menopause

Good nutrition is essential during any part of life, but particularly during the menopausal transition. A survey was conducted on the: "Prevalence of Nutrition on the Onset of Menopause among women working in Kaduna Polytechnic)". Questionnaire was designed for demographic, anthropometry, and dietary intake of the women. Instrument was validated and a pilot study conducted before definitive study was carried out. One hundred and forty respondents (140) were used for this study. Data on dietary habit, food frequency was used to assess eating habit; body mass index compared with WHO reference. Research revealed majority of the women's dietary habit is more of carbohydrates and protein, low intake of fruits and vegetable, little or no soy food products. Nearly half (42.1%) of the women were overweight while 33.6% are obese. Almost all of the women experienced various kinds of menopausal symptoms; common are hot flashes 42.1% and body pains 30.7% and vaginal dryness 29.1%. women used different kinds of supplements notably calcium 28.5%, vitamins 21.4% and herbs 14.3% to cushion the severe effect of the symptoms.

Autorentext

Safiya Aliyu Tijjani, HND: Nutrição e Dietética na Kaduna Polytechnic; MSc: Nutrição na Universidade Ahmadu Bello. Palestras na Politécnica de Kaduna desde 1997 no Departamento de Nutrição e Dietética. Membro profissional da NSN, IDN & NIFST. Actualmente a fazer doutoramento em Bioquímica Nutricional na Universidade de Bayero, Kano. É casada e tem dois filhos.