Description
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
It is of great importance to know the nutrient, toxic substance as well as the anti
physiological substance composition and organoleptic properties of locally available foods in
any community or country. Knowledge and use of local foods can help eliminate
malnutrition. One of the problems of planning therapeutic diets with local foods is limited
information on their nutrient composition (Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN), 2006). It
has been proposed that the fight against malnutrition in developing countries should be on the
use of mixtures of tubers, cereals and legumes indigenous to them (Nnam,
2003).Urbanization has made people forget their traditional foods and favour convenient
foods which are mostly nutritionally inadequate and expensive. The most dietary deficit is
protein of high biological value and this was attributed to the high cost of animal protein
(SCN, 2006). Vegetable proteins however complement each other if well chosen and will
have a nutritive value as good as animal protein (Achinewhu & Akah, 2003; Nnam, 2003;
Obiakor, 2008).
Nutrition is coming to the fore front as a major modifiable determinant of chronic
diseases, with scientific evidence increasingly supporting the view that alterations in diet
have strong effects (both positive and negative) on health throughout life. Dietary
adjustments may not only influence present health, but may determine whether or not an
individual will develop such diseases as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, certain cancer and
cardiovascular disease much later in life (WHO/FAO, 2003). Rapid change in disease pattern had occurred as a result of shifts in diet and lifestyle.