Nigerians Perspectives on Covid-19 Pandemic and How It Affects Their Lifestyle and Financial Status (Published)
Covid-19 is a viral disease that originated from Wuhan province of China. The virus has rapidly crossed borders, infecting and killing people in many countries including Nigeria. Undoubtedly, the pandemic has massive impact on the activities of Nigerians, including social lifestyle and income. The age-long communal behavior of Nigerians, like attendance to religion gatherings, ceremonies, and sports, has been hampered due to covid-19 pandemic. Also, due to this pandemic, Nigeria´s economy has declined drastically. This study was conducted to understand the perspective of Nigerians about Covid-19, and how it affected their lifestyle and financial status. Method: An online survey was conducted using the combination of few open ended and closed ended questions to gather data from a total of 325 respondents in Nigeria. Results: Majority of the respondents had adequate knowledge about the Covid-19 infection, its preventive measures, and its mode of transmission. Furthermore, over half of the respondents admitted that the pandemic has adversely affected their social lifestyle and financial status. Conclusion: There is need for provision of financial assistance and distribution of palliatives to all Nigerians during this pandemic. The government should also ensure the safety of all citizens, as social vices increase amidst the pandemic. A policy against increment of price of commodities should be established and implemented.
Keywords: COVID-19, Income, Lifestyle, Preventive measures., Transmission, palliatives, pandemic
DIET AND LIFESTYLE: A PANACEA FOR ACHIEVING LONGEVITY IN UGEP, NIGERIA (Published)
The body cannot be healthier than the food man eats. Nutrition is to health what drug is to the body too. This paper seeks to highlight the relationship between diet and longevity most importantly in prevention of morbidity and recovery from ill-health. Nutrition is coming to the fore as a major modifiable determinant of chronic disease, with scientific evidence increasingly supporting the view that alterations in diet have strong effects, both positive and negative, on health throughout life. Diet has been known for many years to play a key role as a risk factor for chronic disease. Hunger, malnutrition and poor lifestyle remain among the most devastating problems facing the majority of the world’s poor and needy people; our communities inclusive. The Objective is to clarify the role of diet in preventing and controlling morbidity and premature mortality resulting from non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Using Health Belief Model (HBM), questionnaire was designed for data collection, 100 questionnaires were administered, interviews and existing literature were used too. Data generated were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, simple percentages and illustrative graphs. The findings show that poverty, ignorance, poor lifestyle and inequality were discovered to be the major limiting factors to proper nutrition which would have boosted health and longevity. The study demonstrated 65% increase in morbidity cases among the low income earners and the ignorant as to the average income earners and the ignorant. The result shows that there is a strong relationship between nutrition and health. Ignorance, as one of the limiting factors to proper dieting, is at the fore front. Base on this study/ findings, it is recommended that local food be patronized too in our locality and stakeholders should organize food/agricultural programmes at least annually to ensure knowledge is increased on proper nutrition with the aim of promoting healthy living
Keywords: Lifestyle, Local Food, Longevity, Panacea