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THE ROLE OF FOOD SCIENCE IN HUMAN NUTRITION

ABSTRACT

In a nutshell, food science is the scientific study of food from the period of harvesting, processing, storage and packaging. Human nutrition now is concerned with the utilization of this food in the human system. Because both cases are referring to food, it shows that both terms are inter-related. Actually, food science plays significant roles in human nutrition as it broadens our horizon on the foods we consume. Some of the roles of foods science in human nutrition includes: food processing as it as shown variable ways in which one food commodity can be processed into different forms; food fortification and enrichment in which nutrients that were not present or that were present but lost during processing are added to the food at even greater levels; and also food preservation and storage which show us how to keep our foods safe for future use.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

According to data from Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation surveys, at least 33% of Nigerian student are anaemic and that a large number of student are not able to enjoy their right to nutrition (MOPHS, 2012). Unacceptable levels of over- nutrition and under-nutrition in Nigeria, including chronic under nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are responsible for high rates of illnesses and deaths nationally (KNBS, 2010). From the 1999 Nigeria national micronutrient survey, nutritional deficiency was high with 43% of pre-school student and 42% of school going student suffering from nutritional deficiency. In a study by UNICEF and Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, the prevalence of nutritional deficiency among pre-school student in Nigeria stood at 73% and 56% among school-aged student (UNICEF, 2009; MOPHS, 2012). The regional distribution of nutritional deficiency among student in Central and Midwest Highlands of Nigeria was 8.6-89.5% (UNICEF, 2009). Many student are anaemic due to food insecurity and poverty. Minimal coverage of nutrition content and over emphasis on health education in primary school curriculum is another contributor of nutritional deficiency (Gunde, 2004). Overall, it is the most vulnerable, the poorest and the least educated that are disproportionately affected by nutritional deficiency (Jukes et al., 2007).

Schools provide a social context in which student learn and develop, thus making schools a desirable environment for Food Science promotion (Gunde, 2004). Pupils spend over three quarters of the year in the school environment and therefore are in constant contact with the

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