Healthy eating, healthy lives: examining sustainable food choices and household reported ailments in Oyo State, Nigeria

This study explored food choices, awareness, and consumption of healthy and sustainable food (HSF), along with the determinants and implications of HSF consumption on reported ailments among households in Oyo State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 240 households. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze socio-economic and demographic characteristics, food consumption patterns, awareness levels, HSF consumption, and reported ailments. Two Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models were estimated to identify the determinants of HSF consumption and the covariates of reported ailments. Findings revealed that female-headed households had slightly higher HSF awareness (87.5%) than male-headed ones (84.0%), with fewer reported ailments. Higher-income households (>₦200,000/month) consumed less HSF (mean, 0.6249) and reported more ailments (mean, 2.29) than lower-income households (<₦50,000/month), which had higher HSF consumption (mean, 0.8345) and fewer ailments (mean, 1.78). Urban households consumed less HSF (0.6667) and reported more ailments (mean, 1.88) than rural households (0.8312 mean consumption, 1.54 mean ailments). Determinants of HSF consumption included the age of the household head, rural residence, and employment in agriculture, which were all positively related to HSF consumption. On the other hand, a negative relationship was found between HSF consumption and reported ailments (coefficient -1.3331, p = 0.001) and between physical activity and reported ailments. The study concluded that increasing HSF awareness and availability, especially in urban and higher-income households, could improve health outcomes and reduce ailments. It recommended promoting nutrition education and enhancing HSF accessibility to foster better health outcomes.