Constraints to adequate dietary intake among women: Evidences from Ekiti State, Nigeria

Chronic vitamin and mineral deficiency, also known as ‘Hidden Hunger’, is one of the most serious health problems confronting developing nations, especially Nigeria. Successive governments have implemented several nutritional programs such as school feeding program, mineral fortification program and supplementation with vitamin A capsules to combat the level of child malnutrition. Despite these efforts, the level of malnutrition cases has not dropped below average in rural and urban households. FGDs were conducted with women who registered at the Primary Health Centers  (PHCs) in each of the communities selected for the study. The selection cut across rural and urban communities. In all, three FGDs were conducted in Ekiti State (Ado-Ekiti, Ikere-Ekiti and Ikoro-Ekiti). Each FGD included 10-12 discussants randomly selected from the list of weekly attendance at the PHCs. Results from the problem tree analysis revealed that constraints to the adequate dietary intake among women included income, cultural preference, nutritional knowledge and practice. Keywords : Dietary intake, Constraints, Primary health centers