Households’ consumption pattern of leafy vegetables in selected communities in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed households’ consumption pattern of leafy vegetables in selected communities in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria. The study adopted a survey research design, while the population of the study consisted of mothers of households in the study area. A systematic sampling technique was used to select one community each from the three districts in the study area. Eighty households were randomly selected from each community, making a total of two hundred and forty households as the sample for the study. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and correlation coefficient. The results showed that 50% of the respondents obtain leafy vegetables from the neighbouring community markets. Several types of leafy vegetables were consumed by the respondents with bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina) being the most consumed (28.3%) with utazi (Gongronem alatifolium) as the least consumed (3.8%). Majority of the respondents (70.8%) consume their vegetables cooked by adding them to soup and pottage. Some of the respondents (42.5%) consume leafy vegetables because it is their eating habit and few of the respondents (15.4%) consume leafy vegetables for their nutritional benefits. Few of the respondents (18.7%) consume leafy vegetables every day, while many of them (33.8%) consume leafy vegetables once a week. The relationship between respondents’ socioeconomic characteristics and frequency of consumption of leafy vegetables showed that age has a positive relation, while education and family size has a negative relationship.

Keywords: Leafy vegetables, households, consumption pattern, diet, micronutrient