Utilization of Selected Vitality Staple Foods by Low Income Households in Ebonyi State

Abstract

The study focused on the utilization of selected vitality foods among low income household in Ebonyi State. Specifically the study aimed at identifying vitality foods that are available, accessible and utilized by low income household in state. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. The population of the study is 2,173,501 households and the sample size is 400 households. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire and interview. The research questions were answered on individual item basis using mean, frequency and standard deviation, t-test was used to test the hypothesis. The findings revealed among other things that vitality foods are not always available in the state; they are not always accessible and therefore not always utilized by the low income households in the state. This is contrary to US Department of Agriculture Food Guide Pyramid that children should consume three servings from the vitality foods each day to remain healthy.  Based on the findings, some recommendations were made including (1) Nutrition education at the household level should be taught by Home Economics Extension workers to family members through workshops/seminars as this will encourage low income households on ways of reducing food insecurity during off seasons (2) Entrepreneurship education should be introduced into the school curriculum from primary to university levels of education to empower low income households financially among others.

Keywords: utilization, vitality, foods, staple, low-income, households