State of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in N'Djamena, Chad

Abstract

Food plays a significant role in health. Fruits and vegetables are an important component of a healthy diet and, when consumed daily in sufficient quantities, they could help to prevent major conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. The objective of the study is to assess the state of consumption of fruits and vegetables by the population of the city of N'Djamena.  Through a descriptive cross-sectional analysis, this study will provide information on fruit and vegetable consumption of 440 households in the 10 districts in the city of N'Djamena in Chad from February 20 to June 20, 2015. The study described the hygiene conditions of fruits and vegetables, the timing of fruit consumption and the portions of fruits and vegetables consumed per day in N'Djamena. The results show that 60% of those surveyed are male and 40% female. The age group (25-40 years) represents 79.31% of the respondents, followed by the group (41-55 years) with 17.93% and 2.75% for the age group between 56 and 75 years. As for the socio-professional category, the results reveal that 31.72% of those surveyed are civil servants. The results show that households whose size varies between 0 and 5 people represent 45.51% against 31.03% for households whose size varies from 6 to 10 people. It should be noted that 11.03% of households spend a daily food ration less than or equal to 1,5 $, 24.13% of households spend between 1,5 to 3 $ per day for their daily food ration and 28.27% of households use a sum ranging from 3 to 4,5 $. The majority of respondents (93.79%) do not respect hygienic practice while 20% of respondents consume one serving of fruits and vegetables per day (per person) and 39.31% consume two portions. The impact of socio-economic difficulties on fruit and vegetable consumption is confirmed. The high household size and low daily expenses for food does not allow them to consume the 5 recommended portions. This insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables is part of a context of galloping urbanization and rising food prices. One prospect raised is to consider further surveys in population subgroups accompanied by nutrition education in order to improve the consumption of this food group.