Objective: To evaluate the habitual diet of a rural and urban population in Cameroon, Central Africa. Setting: An urban areaÐCite  Verte Housing District, Yaounde  (1058 subjects); and a rural areaÐthree villages in Evodoula, Cameroon (746 subjects). Subjects: Cameroonian men and women of African origin (1058 urban, and 746 rural), aged 24±74 y. Methods: The habitual diet was estimated with an interviewer-administered food frequency questionnaire. Main outcome measures: Macro-and micronutrient intake. Results: The intake of energy, fat and alcohol was higher in rural men and women than in urban subjects. In rural women, the intake of carbohydrates and protein was also higher. The intakes of ®bre, iron, carotene, zinc, potassium, and of the vitamins C, D and E were all higher in rural men and women than in their urban counterparts. The intake of retinol was lower in rural subjects than in urban subjects. Eight of the 10 foods eaten in the highest amount and contributing most to energy intake differed between the rural and urban population. Conclusion: The habitual diet in rural Cameroon contains more fat and alcohol than the diet in urban Cameroon. The high physical activity in the rural area may explain the lower levels of the cardiovascular risk factors in this area compared to those of the urban dwellers.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the frequency of dietary underreporting in four African populations in different geographic and cultural settings. SUBJECTS: Seven-hundred and forty three men and women from rural Cameroon, 1042 men and women from urban Cameroon, 857 men and women from Jamaica and 243 male and female African Caribbeans from the UK. Subjects who reported dieting or weight control were excluded. MEASUREMENTS: Habitual dietary intake was estimated with a quantitative food frequency questionnaire, developed speci®cally for each country. Underreporting was de®ned using three cut-off levels for energy intakeaestimated basic metabolic rate (EIaBMR est ), based on age, sex and weight, in each site. RESULTS: The EIaBMR est was highest in rural Cameroonian men at 3.07 (95% con®dence interval: 2.97, 3.17) and women at 2.84 (2.74, 2.94), intermediate in urban Cameroon and Jamaica and lowest in the UK men and women at 1.44 (1.26, 1.62) and 1.41 (1.21, 1.61). This trend existed even after adjustment for age, BMI and education (P for trend`0.0001). The trend in the frequency of underreporting using the lowest cut-off level for EIaBMR est of 1.15 was 6% and 6% in rural Cameroon for women and men, respectively, 4% and 5% in urban Cameroon, 24% and 19% in Jamaica and 28% and 39% in the UK. With higher cut off levels this trend was similar. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the frequency of dietary underreporting differs between societies and that Westernization may be one of the factors underlying this phenomenon.

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