Adolescents’ food habits and nutritional status in urban and rural areas in Cameroon, Africa

Figures & data

Table 1. Reported frequency per week of eight food groups

	Urban (n=26)		Rural (n=20)
Food group	Mean±SD	% of total food intake	Mean±SD	% of total food intake	^p-Value
Fruit	11±5.2	10.6	8.9±4.4	13.1	0.165
Milk products	5.7±3.4	5.5	0.8±1.7	1.4	<0.001
Beans/pulses/nuts	7.6±4.3	7.3	9.3±3.3	15.3	0.288
Vegetables/green leaves	9.5±3.7	9.1	3.9±2.4	6.7	<0.001
Meat/fish/eggs	11.8±5.2	11.3	4.5±2.9	8.0	<0.001
Cereals	16.5±5.1	15.9	11.9±5.3	20.1	0.040
Roots/plantain	17.9±8.1	17.2	13.1±7.0	21.4	0.386
Junk food	24.2±1.8	23.2	8.7±3.9	14.2	0.009

p -Values for the differences between urban and rural pupils/adolescents were adjusted for age and gender.

Table 2. Reported frequency of meals per week

	Urban pupils (n=26)		Rural pupils (n=20)
Meal	Mean±SD	% of total meal intake	Mean±SD	% of total meal intake	^p-Value
Breakfast	5.0±2.3	22.6	6.7±1.1	34.9	0.217
Lunch	6.1±2.1	26.9	5.0±2.1	26.0	0.203
In-between meal	4.9±2.3	21.9	0.9±1.4	4.7	<0.001
Dinner	6.5±1.7	28.6	6.6±1.6	34.4	0.784

p -Values for the differences between urban and rural pupils/adolescents were adjusted for age and gender.

Table 3. Anthropometric characteristics of urban and rural adolescents

Characteristic	Urban (n=26)	Rural (n=26)	^p-Value
Age (years)	12.7±0.7	13. 7±1.1	0.001
Weight (kg)	45.3±8.5	47.9±8.1	0.453
Height (cm)	152.2±9.3	152.9±8.4	0.171
BMI (kg m^–2)	19.4±2.1	20.6±2.3	0.096
AMA (mm^2)	2802±474	3554±614	0.044
MUAC (cm)	21.9±2.3	24.1±2.1	0.180
TSF (mm)	10.1±4.8	9.8±3.2	0.463
BSF (mm)	7.3±2.5	6.3±2.5	0.175
SSSF (mm)	8.8±3.0	9.1±2.9	0.712
SISF (mm)	6.9±2.5	6.8±2.4	0.164
Total skinfold (mm)	33.1±11.6	31.9±9.8	0.447
Waist (cm)	66.00±5.6	70.34±4.7	0.108
Hip (cm)	82.7±6.8	85.2±6.2	0.329
Waist/hip	0.79±0.03	0.82±0.04	0.001

p -Values for the differences (except for age) between urban and rural adolescents were adjusted for age and gender.

BMI: body mass index; AMA: arm muscle area; MUAC: mid-upper arm circumference; TSF: triceps skinfold thickness; BSF: biceps skinfold thickness; SSSF: subscapular skinfold thickness; SISF: suprailiac skinfold thickness.

AMA=(MUAC – π×TSF)²/4×π; correction factors: –10 for males and –6.5 for females 10.

Table 4. Distribution of arm muscle area (AMA) and body weight of urban (n=26) and rural (n=26) adolescents below or above reference standards

	AMA				Body weight
Age	<25th percentile		>75th percentile		Below		Above
(years)	Urban	Rural	Urban	Rural	Urban	Rural	Urban	Rural
12	7/11 (64)	0/5 (0)	1/11 (9)	1/5 (20)	1/11 (9)	0/5 (0)	6/11 (55)	1/5 (20)
13	6/11 (55)	1/6 (17)	0/11 (0)	1/6 (17)	1/11 (9)	0/6 (0)	5/11 (45)	1/6 (17)
14	2/4 (50)	1/7 (14)	0/4 (0)	2/7 (29)	1/4 (25)	1/7 (14)	2/4 (50)	2/7 (29)
15	–	2/8 (25)	–	2/8 (25)	–	1/8 (13)	–	2/8 (25)

Data are given as the number and percentage (%) of adolescents with AMA for age and gender below the 25th and above the 75th percentiles from US population references 10, and for body weight for height, age and gender below and above World Health Organization references 20.

Fig. 1 Correlation between body mass index (BMI) and arm muscle area (AMA) among urban (r=0.67, p<0.001) and rural (r=0.72, p<0.001) adolescents.

Mahan LK, Arlin M. Krause's food nutrition and diet therapy, 8th edn. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders; 1992.

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World Health Organization (WHO). Energy and protein requirements. Report of a joint FAO/WHO/UNU expert consultation. Technical report series 724. Geneva: WHO; 1985.

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