Dietary Quality of Women of Reproductive Age in Low-Income Settings: A Cross-Sectional Study in Kyrgyzstan

Wang

et al. 2022

Preprint

Background: Hidden hunger, also known as insufficient micronutrient intake, is still a severe public health problem, affecting over 2 billion people worldwide. High school students are in an important stage of growth and development. Due to huge academic stress, high school students often lack nutrition knowledge and have unhealthy eating habits, suggesting a higher risk for hidden hunger. However, information on the hidden hunger risk of high school students is limited, and tools for assessing hidden hunger are inadequate. Objectives: To revise the hidden hunger assessment scale for high school students (HHAS-HSS) in China and assess its reliability and validity. Methods: Based on the literature review, expert consultation, pre-experiment, and formal survey, a hidden hunger assessment scale was revised for high school students. The formal survey involved 9,336 high school students in 11 of the 16 cities in Anhui Province, China, from 1 September 2020 to 31 December 2020, and 9,038 valid questionnaires were collected and included in the analysis. The item analysis, internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, content validity, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis of the HHAS-HSS were examined. Results: The HHAS-HSS included a total of 4 dimensions and 12 items: vegetables and food diversity (3 items), fruits and dairy products (3 items), micronutrient-dense foods (4 items), and health condition and eating habits (2 items). The results showed a Cronbach's alpha of 0.758, a split-half reliability of 0.829, and a test-retest reliability of 0.793, indicating good internal consistency. The exploratory factor analysis presented a four-factor model of the HHAS-HSS (KMO=0.820, P<0.001). Using the maximum variance rotation method, 4 factors were obtained, and the cumulative variance explained rate was 57.974%. Confirmatory factor analysis also supported the division of the scale into four dimensions and the above results showed that the construct validity of the scale has reached an acceptable level. Conclusions: The HHAS-HSS is an effective and convenient tool for the assessment of hidden hunger with good reliability and validity.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reliability and validity of the hidden hunger assessment scale for Chinese high school students

Wang

et al. 2022

Preprint

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Globally, evidence supports dietary diversification for optimal nutrition and health ( 15 , 16 ). Consumption of diverse diets is central to achieving and preserving nutrient adequacy throughout the life course ( 15 , 16 ). Inadequate dietary quantity and quality result in deficiencies of essential nutrients, particularly during pregnancy and lactation ( 17 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of vitamin A rich food consumption among women living in households growing orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes in selected regions in Uganda

Nankumbi

Sibeko

Mercado

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

ObjectiveVitamin A deficiency (VAD) has serious public health consequences including morbidity and mortality for populations in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially for children under 5 years and pregnant women. LMICs are at greater risk of VAD, in part due to low levels of consumption of vitamin A-rich foods most of which are plant-based, such as orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP), with lower bioavailability than animal sources of the vitamin A. Food-based approaches such as biofortification of OFSP, including promoting the consumption of vitamin A-rich biofortified staple crops, has been shown to be potentially effective in improving the status of vitamin A and other micronutrients. This study examined vitamin A-rich food consumption and its predictors among women of reproductive age from OFSP-growing households in two regions of Uganda.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among 617 OFSP growing households, focusing on women in the reproductive age group from the northern and eastern regions of Uganda. Households were not receiving any VAD-related intervention at the time of the survey. Quantitative data included vitamin A-rich food consumption, knowledge on vitamin A, and rich food sources dietary intake, using a 7-day food frequency questionnaire. Vitamin A consumption and risk of deficiency were estimated using the Hellen Keller International guide.ResultsThe majority of women in this study were either pregnant (80%) or lactating (17%). More than 70% of the study population had a weighted vitamin A rich food consumption mean score of <6 days per week, indicating a high risk of VAD. Knowledge about vitamin A [b (SE) = −0.18 (0.50), p < 0.001] was significantly and inversely associated with vitamin A rich food consumption.ConclusionComponents of food insecurity such as availability, affordability, utilization, and changing food preferences may contribute to the unexpected inverse relationship between knowledge and consumption of vitamin A rich foods. Scaling up biofortified food initiatives, including OFSP, can improve consumption of vitamin A rich foods with effective strategies to comprehensively address consumption barriers such as lack of nutrition education, cooking skills, and storage facilities, as well as low production levels and perceived contamination of biofortified foods.

Food Science & Nutrition

“…Several studies mentioned that dietary diversity in urban areas is higher compared to rural (Chalermsri et al, 2022;Choudhury & Headey, 2018), while Otunchieva et al (2022) found a lower dietary diversity score (DDS) among urban women. Though Aberman et al (2022) reported that urban agriculture enables women to contribute to household food security and dietary diversity, Pandey et al (2020) found that urbanization may not improve food diversification due to low income, increased reliance on food purchases, and a shift in food preferences toward high sugary and instant food.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies mentioned that dietary diversity in urban areas is higher compared to rural (Chalermsri et al., 2022 ; Choudhury & Headey, 2018 ), while Otunchieva et al. ( 2022 ) found a lower dietary diversity score (DDS) among urban women. Though Aberman et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with child and maternal dietary diversity in the urban areas of Bangladesh

Haque,

Salman,

Hossain

et al. 2023

Dietary diversity is an indicator of nutrition that has been found positively associated with diet quality, micronutrient adequacy, and improved maternal health and child growth. Due to the cultural responsibility of women in providing food at the household level, their status is very important to perform this role. Hence, this study has been conducted on the status of dietary diversity of the mother and child to understand how it relates to various factors of women in urban settings. Data were obtained from 1978 mother–child pairs living in different cities in Bangladesh. The foods taken by the women and children were categorized into 10 and 7 groups to measure women's dietary diversity (WDD) and children's dietary diversity (CDD), respectively. The study found that more than three‐fourths of the mothers and half of the children had low dietary diversity. The household wealth holdings and access to resources by the women were found inadequate, while two‐thirds of them had the lowest to medium level of nutritional knowledge. The binomial logistic regression model was used to measure the factors influencing WDD and CDD. The findings also indicated that children's dietary diversity was influenced by the mother's age, education, supportive attitude and behavior of husband, and access to and control over resources. While the household wealth index can enhance both child and mother's dietary variety, nutrition knowledge, dietary counseling, and access to and control over resources can improve maternal dietary diversity. This study recommends improving women's socioeconomic status by increasing their wealth and access to resources and enhancing their nutrition knowledge by providing food and nutrition counseling.