Evaluation of some vitamin B-complex nutriture in Ile-Ife and environs (Nigeria)

A nutritional survey was conducted in two rural areas and in the urban city of Ile-Ife (Nigeria) to determine the nutritional status of the population with respect to thiamin, riboflavin and niacin intake. On basis of socio-economic groupings, most subjects in the rural areas were found to fall under relatively low to middle income, whereas in the urban areas the subjects were more evenly distributed between low and high income. Both the rural and urban communities were found to be deficient in thiamin intake but the intakes of riboflavin and niacin were adequate and they met the daily vitamin recommended intake. A small but insignificant difference was found between male and female vitamin intake in both the urban and the rural areas. In the overall, vitamin nutriture was found to be superior in the urban areas compared with the rural areas. Lack of education and proper environmental sanitation are contributing factors in this apparent deficiency.