Composition of foods and dishes commonly consumed in villages of the Gezira area of Sudan. III. Fatty Acids, Retinol, α‐, β‐ Carotene and Tocopherols

Dietary intake of Sudanese women: a comparative assessment of nutrient intake of displaced and non-displaced women

OBJECTIVES

To determine the daily intake of essential micro- and macronutrients in Sudanese women, with specific focus on dietary fat and essential fatty acids, and compare the dietary intakes of internally displaced women with those of the non-displaced population.

METHODS

Dietary intakes of displaced southern (n=44) and non-displaced southern (n=30) and northern (n=39) Sudanese women were obtained by single 24-hour recall method, and daily nutrient intakes were calculated using 'Foodbase' nutritional software. The displaced women were recruited from Mayo and Soba Aradi camps, south of Khartoum city; and non-displaced southern and northern Sudanese women were recruited from antenatal clinics, universities, hospitals and the community in Khartoum city and Omdurman, Sudan.

RESULTS

Carbohydrates provided over 60% of dietary energy for all the Sudanese women groups. The displaced women had significantly lower intake of energy (1744 ± 344 kcal/d), starch (p<0.001) and carbohydrates (312 ± 11 g/d, p<0.01) than both non-displaced southern (1972 ± 229 kcal/d energy, 358 ± 56 g/d carbohydrates) and northern Sudanese women (1988 ± 226 kcal/d energy, 357 ± 56g/d carbohydrates). Fat intake was also lower in the displaced group (34.1 ± 11.9 g/d) than in the non-displaced counterpart (38.5 ± 10.2 g/d) (p<0.05), but was not significantly different from northern Sudanese women (37.6 ± 10.6, p>0.05). Intakes of iodine (33.60-56.96 µg/d), zinc (7.12-9.92 mg/d), retinol (226.1-349.7 µg/d), riboflavin (0.44-0.70 mg/d) and docosahexaenoic acid (11.70-33.49 mg/d) amongst Sudanese women were very low compared with recommendations.

CONCLUSION

The Sudanese diet was less diverse and differences in energy and nutrients intakes between groups were due to the amounts of food consumed. This view is supported by a lack of significant differences when intakes were expressed as proportion of whole energy between all groups of women.

Fatty acid composition of the milk of well-nourished Sudanese women

The fatty acid (FA) composition of samples of breast milk obtained from well-nourished Sudanese women was determined by capillary gas chromatography. Saturated fatty acids (SFA) constituted 46%, monoenoic acids (MONOENE) 33% and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) accounted for 21% of total fatty acids. The mean value (18.28%) of the essential fatty acid linoleic acid was comparable to the levels reported for well-nourished mothers from industrialised countries. The proportions of fatty acids synthesised de novo in the mammary gland (10:0, 12:0, 14:0) were less than expected from published studies of mothers consuming low fat diet averaging 17.4%. The amount of 22:6 n-3 which is synthesised from 18:3 n-3 and also taken up by consumption of fish were found to be low. The possible nutritional implications of the low n-3 fatty acids for the infants should therefore be investigated.