Babalola, DA, Makinde Y O and Afodu, J O
Keywords: Nutrition transition, diet, hypertension, logit regression.
Abstract: The close relationship between diet, lifestyle and heart related diseases such as hypertension, have been well established. This study assessed nutrition transition (NT) and indicators of hypertension among farming households in Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. One hundred and ninety two households were selected using simple random sampling proceedure. Descriptive statistics and the logit regression model were used in analyzing the data collected. Result obtained showed that majority of the farmers (87%) fall within the low income class and they spend more than 50 percent of their income on food. The respondents were mostly non- vegetarians (88%) and they all reported mild to high level transition in all the food classes considered in the study. The regression result showed that increases in family size (p<0.1), level of education (p<0.01), size of farm (p<0.05), average income (p<0.01) and decreases in gender (i.e female, p<0.01), marital status (i.e single, p<0.01) and farming activities (p<0.01) will increase the probability of NT while, increases in age (p<0.10), education (p<0.10), incidence of NT (p<0.05), average income (p<0.05) and decreases in gender (i.e female, p<0.05), farm size (p<0.01) and farming activities (p<0.10) will increase probability for hypertension risks (HR) among study population. The study recommends incorporation of health education into extension education. Furthermore, female farmers should be encouraged to go for periodic blood pressure check and enroll for couselling since high risk for hypertension is apparent among them. Finally government effort at ameliorating hypertension should be intensified in developing communities through media campaign.
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