Assessment of Food and Nutrient Provision within Prisons in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

Objective: Food provision within the institutional environment is important and goes beyond satisfying the physiological need for food to other matters such as overall health and wellbeing which are of core importance to individuals. There is a paucity of data as regards food and nutrient provision within Ghanaian prisons. This study assessed nutrient provision from a static menu within three adult prisons in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

Design: The Household record was used to determine the quantity of ingredients provided for each food item on the menu and the West African food composition table was used to analyse nutrients from raw ingredients weighed.

Settings: This study was conducted within three prisons, one female prison and two male prisons.

Results: The overall mean daily caloric provision for the three prisons was 2114.1±329.3 kcal/d. Protein 38.23 g/d for males, 418.4 g/d for females, fibre 24.8 g/d for males, 42.4 g/d for females, vitamin A 88.25 µg/d for males, 3087.2 µg/d for females, vitamin E 4.65 mg/d for males, 18.5 mg/d for females, vitamin C 19.95 mg/d for males, 96.4 mg/d for females, vitamin B12 0.95 µg/d for males, 2.8 µg/d for females and folate 234.4 µg/d for males, 868.3 µg/d for females provided were inadequate for male inmates but in excess for females.

Conclusion: Nutrients provided by the prison food was outside the recommended quantities being mostly excessive for females and inadequate for males. Interventions of appropriate nutritional provision should commence in Ghanaian prisons as inadequate or excess nutrient provision poses a health risk to inmates.