Browsing by Author "Suleiman, Rashid"

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Consumption of protect and risk food groups for non-communicable diseases among women of reproductive age in rural areas of Morogoro, Tanzania
(PLOS ONE, 2025-02-25) Mwanri, Akwilina Wendelin; Mishili, Fulgence; Assenga, Theresia; Suleiman, Rashid; Mwaseba, Dismas; Msolla, Susan Nchimbi
Malnutrition has been persistently high in Tanzania, especially in the rural areas. Although some interventions have been implemented to reduce the rate of undernutrition, improve- ment is much slower than expected. Moreover, the prevalence of overweight and obe- sity among women of reproductive age has been on the increase. Changes in lifestyles specifically in eating habits may contribute to the observed increase trend in the preva- lence of overweight and obesity. However, there are limited studies that have assessed diet quality for women. Hence, this study aimed to assess the consumption of protective and risk food groups for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in rural areas of the Moro- goro region, Tanzania. The cross-sectional study involved 512 randomly selected women of reproductive age in Mvomero district. All mothers or caretakers with children of age 6–23 months who resided in the area for over three months were eligible to participate. A structured questionnaire was used to collect demographic data and the Global Diet Quality Questionnaire was used to collect dietary intake data for women. A multivariate regression model was used to identify factors associated with consumption of diversified diets, NCD-protect, and NCD-risk food group scores. The results show that about 42% of the women had no formal education and about one in three women own a mobile phone. About 70% consumed vegetables while 33% consumed deep fried foods. Only 34% of the women met the minimum diet diversity (MDD-W) of five or more food groups. The mean NCD-protect score was 2.8 ± 1.4 and the NCD-risk score was 0.77 ± 0.97. Household income was positively associated with an increase in both protect scores and NCD-risk. Mobile phone ownership was positively associated with NCD-risk. Other factors such as age and self-employment in agriculture were positively associated NCD-protect while the number of children was negatively associated with NCD-protect score. Rural communities should be educated on the importance of food diversification starting from production to consumption and the need for multiple sources of income to increase purchasing power of the household while considering proper food choices to avoid the risk of NCDs. The Ministry of Agriculture and other stakeholders should support and promote production of bio-fortified crops and keeping small animals. The Ministry of Education should ensure that school children are aware of the NCD-risk foods and make available healthier food choices around the school environment.
Effect of different processing methods on the anti-nutritive components of selected indigenous vegetables
(Asian Food Science Journal, 2024) Ngungulu, Theresia Ponsiano; Wenaty, Alex; Chove, Bernard; Suleiman, Rashid; Mbwana, Hadijah
Indigenous vegetables are widely utilized due to their high nutritional profiles, easy availability, and accessibility in rural areas. The consumption of indigenous vegetables is limited by their high perishability nature which causes high post-harvest losses. Also, the presence of anti-nutritive components which tend to affect the bioavailability of micronutrients, poses a challenge in availing their full nutritional potential to consumers. This study aimed to determine the effect of boiling, fermentation, solar and sun drying (with and without blanching) on the anti-nutritive components of the leaves of Cassava (Manhot esculenta Crantz), Black jack (Bidens pilosa) and Bitter lettuce (Launaea cornuta). The raw, dried, boiled and fermented vegetables were evaluated directly after being subjected to their corresponding treatments. Total oxalate and hydrogen cyanide (HCN) were analyzed using titrimetric methods and phytate was determined using the UV spectrophotometric method. From the results, oxalic acid ranged from 180.2 ± 1.56 to 26.3 ± 2.34mg/100g, phytate ranged from 18.8 ± 1.07 to 0.7 ± 1.11mg/100g and hydrogen cyanide ranged from 357.1 ± 10.56 to 4.1 ± 2.49mg /100g across the treatments. All processing methods significantly (P<0.05) reduced hydrogen cyanide and oxalic acid content in all vegetable samples. Phytate was significantly reduced (P<0.05) after boiling and fermentation while, all drying treatments resulted in non- significant changes in phytate content. In consequence, all processing methods studied proved to be effective in the reduction of hydrogen cyanide and oxalic acid. Boiling and fermentation showed their effectiveness in the reduction of phytate. Therefore, it is recommended that these plants should be eaten boiled or fermented to increase the bioavailability of micronutrients