Identifying foods commonly consumed by the Jamaican population: the focus group approach

Abstract

Focus group methodology was employed in a study conducted in the Caribbean island of Jamaica, aimed at providing critical information on priority foods to be included in a national food composition database. The specific objective of the study was to determine the single and prepared foods most commonly consumed within Jamaican households. Twenty focus groups were conducted nationwide comprising 130 households. Representativeness of sample was obtained by selecting the groups as a subset of the sample used by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica for national social and economic surveys. Groups consisted of 4-13 persons (responsible for household food purchase and preparation) recruited from each sampling region. Content analysis of transcripts was carried out by coding and tabulating mentions (food occurrence) for each question, by group. Code frequencies were collated in a matrix to arrive at foods commonly consumed by group and geographical area. Data generated by the study identified 70 foods as being the most commonly consumed on a weekly basis and 16 cooked dishes as the most commonly prepared. Oranges, ripe bananas, chicken, rice, yellow yam and green bananas were among the most commonly consumed foods, while rice and peas, brown stewed or fried chicken, porridges and soups were among the most commonly prepared dishes, overall. There were no significant differences, across geographical regions, in terms of the frequency with which groups reported household consumption of common foods or commonly prepared dishes. These results suggest a relative homogeneity in types of foods consumed within the Jamaican population and provide a list of 'core' foods and food products, in their forms most commonly consumed, for inclusion in an updated food composition database for Jamaica.

Food processing methods influence the glycaemic indices of some commonly eaten West Indian carbohydrate-rich foods

“…Recent studies have shown that the Caribbean diet, comprising mostly roots and tuber crops, is rich in vast amounts of complex carbohydrates (Samuda et al 1998). It has been implied by some researchers that the increase in type 2 diabetes mellitus over the last decades is attributable to the carbohydrate-rich traditional diet of the region.…”

The application of a text clustering statistical analysis to aid the interpretation of focus group interviews

“…In our cases 4-8 participants formed a single group but up to 12 have Relationships (correspondence analysis) between the three reviewers (a, b, c) from the appended texts of the four focus groups (rural women, RW, and men, RM, and urban women, UW, and men, UM) and typical analysable words from the three classes. been employed (Zimmerman, Kendall, Stone, & Hoban, 1994) and we had four replicate groups but up to 20 have been used (Samuda, Cook, Cook, & Henry, 1998). It was not the intention here to provide a comprehensive consumer study, rather to have sufficient Ôdata' to examine its objective analysis.…”

Nutrient Content of Five Commonly Consumed Jamaican Foods

“…The sampling plan for the collection of foods/dishes for chemical analyses was based on the plan used for the study through which the foods were identified (Samuda et al, 1998). The focus group study was carried out in 20 regrouped Enumeration districts of the 1991 Jamaica population census.…”

“…The first stage entails determining the foods for which compositional data must be generated. The focus group methodology, a qualitative data-gathering technique, was applied in a study to identify foods and dishes commonly consumed by the Jamaican population in order to guide the selection of foods for generating compositional data to be included in a national nutrient data base (Samuda et al, 1998). Data generated by that study identified 54 single foods and 16 prepared dishes as being the most commonly consumed.…”

“…The homogeneity of responses across geographical regions observed in that study led to the conclusion that there were no differences in the types of foods and dishes consumed throughout the island. That work was the first of its kind to document, on a national scale, the single and prepared foods commonly consumed in Jamaican households and forms a base for setting priorities for the selection of foods/ dishes for which analytical data should be provided in Jamaica.In an attempt to partially fill the information gap on compositional data for foods "as consumed" by the Jamaican population, this paper describes the collection, processing, and analyses of five foods/dishes identified by Samuda et al (1998) as being among the most commonly consumed within that population. This paper presents data for proximate, dietary fiber, and mineral values of brown stewed chicken, rice and peas, boiled and roasted breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), and steamed callaloo (Amaranthus viridis).…”