Knowledge on Benefits of Consumption and Cooking Time of Leafy Vegetables in a Peri urban Communities

Abstract

Vegetable consumption is confers many benefits to the body. Leafy vegetables are widely available in sub-Saharan Africa. Nutritionist and other health professional’s encourage clients and patients respectively to consume them. The increase of non-communicable diseases despite the increased knowledge of benefits of leafy vegetable is worrying. Currently no Leafy vegetables have been shown to boost immunity due to the high ascorbic acid levels. Leafy vegetables are also high in fiber that enables control the blood sugar levels. This helps in the prevention and management of diabetes Cooking time of leafy vegetables is important to ensure maximum benefits from leafy vegetables. The more leafy vegetables are cooked the more the nutrients degrade. Hence cooking methods such as steaming are greatly encouraged while boiling id discouraged. This study aims at providing baseline information on the relationship between knowledge of benefits and cooking time.A cross-sectional study design was used. The tools of collecting data were interviewer administered questionnaires. The data was collected in the informal settlement of Kangemi in Nairobi- Kenya. Most respondents were women. However proportionally more men were knowledgeable on benefits than women. From the study the most respondents had knowledge of benefits of vegetables. Moreover, the most used cooking method is boiling and stewing. The results also showed that there is a significant relationship between knowledge of benefits of leafy vegetables and cooking time. However, those who have the knowledge on benefits, spent more time cooking leafy vegetables. This indicates that informing clients on benefits of leafy vegetables alone is inadequate. Clients require more information to know which cooking methods are best in reserving nutrients in order to leap maximum benefits.

Keywords: Informal settlements, men, non-communicable diseases, women