Developing an online food composition database for an Indigenous population in south-western Uganda

Abstract

Objective: To develop an online food composition database of locally consumed foods among an Indigenous population in south-western Uganda. Design: Using a community-based approach and collaboration with local nutritionists, we collected a list of foods for inclusion in the database through focus group discussions, an individual dietary survey and markets and shops assessment. The food database was then created using seven steps: identification of foods for inclusion in the database; initial data cleaning and removal of duplicate items; linkage of foods to existing generic food composition tables; mapping and calculation of the nutrient content of recipes and foods; allocating portion sizes and accompanying foods; quality checks with local and international nutritionists; translation into relevant local languages. Setting: Kanungu District, south-western Uganda. Participants: 74 participants, 36 Indigenous Batwa and 38 Bakiga, were randomly selected and interviewed to inform the development of a food list prior the construction of the food database. Results: We developed an online food database for south-western Uganda including 148 commonly consumed foods complete with values for 120 micronutrients and macronutrients. This was for use with the online dietary assessment tool myfood24. Of the locally reported foods included, 56% (n=82 items) of the items were already available in the myfood24 database, while 25% (n= 37 items) were found in existing Ugandan and Tanzanian food databases, 18% (n= 27 items) came from generated recipes, and 1% (n=2 items) from food packaging labels. Conclusion: Locally relevant food databases are sparse for African Indigenous communities. Here we created a tool that can be used for assessing food intake and for tracking under-nutrition among the communities living in Kanungu District. This will help to develop locally relevant food and nutrition policies.

Potential of existing online 24-h dietary recall tools for national dietary surveys

“…Among them, eleven (B (46) , D (49) , H (53) , I (54) , J (55) , K (31) , L (56) , N, O (58) , Q (60) and R (61) ) were developed in Europe, five (A (45) , F (51) , G (52) , M (70) and P (59) ) in North America (USA and Canada), one (E (50,64) ) in Australia and one (C (48) ) in South Korea. Five (A (71) , I (72) , J (36) , K (73) and R (61) ) have already been adapted to be used in another country, and in particular, two (I (72) and J (74) ) have already been adapted for low-income countries (Middle East countries, Peru or the South-Asia region). Only one language is available in twelve tools (C-H, K, L-O and Q) (among them six in English: E-H, M and O), while the other six tools (C, D, K, L, N and Q) are in various languages.…”

Socio-economic and environmental factors affecting breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices among Batwa and Bakiga communities in south-western Uganda

“…The Batwa and Bakiga are aware of the consequences that unavailability of food can have on maternal and child health. A study conducted in 2019 showed that the diet of Batwa and Bakiga communities is low in proteins and fats, and the caloric content of the most commonly consumed foods is low or very low, with negative implications for child nutrition [28]. For these reasons, women highlighted the need for the District and Government to improve access to, and security and ownership of, more land to cultivate, and distribution of food to pregnant and lactating mothers and children.…”

“…They work mostly as farmers, hired by the Bakiga; some are craft makers or brick makers or work in tourism [18]. However, the absence of a traditional culture of farming and low socio-economic status exacerbate food insecurity [27] which have an impact on individual nutrition, and can affect negatively child health [28]. Although many Batwa and Bakiga families are poor, Batwa per capita income is substantially lower than the national average (0.36 US dollars/day compared to 0.99 US dollars/day) [24].…”

A Community-Based Approach to Integrating Socio, Cultural and Environmental Contexts in the Development of a Food Database for Indigenous and Rural Populations: The Case of the Batwa and Bakiga in South-Western Uganda

“…In addition, we described how food was cooked, processed and stored. The second stage involves development of an automated online food database [22] for south-western Uganda, and results are reported in Scarpa et al [13]. To create the food list, we used a mixed-method research design with field-based data collection, including focus group discussions, individual dietary surveys and market and shop visits.…”

“…Inclusion of adjacent Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities allowed us to explore the extent to which cultural constructs of food systems might influence the development of food lists and nutritional assessment methods at the local level. We, therefore, formulated the following objectives: (1) to identify the range of foods and dishes consumed by households (with nutrient composition details in the manuscript of Scarpa et al [13]);…”