Household access to traditional and indigenous foods positively associated with food security and dietary diversity in Botswana
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Date
2018Author
Kasimba, Salome Nduku
Claasen, Nicole
Motswagole, Boitumelo Stokie
Covic, Namukolo Margaret
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Objective
To determine access to traditional and indigenous foods (TIF) and the association with household food security, dietary diversity and women’s BMI in low socio-economic households.
Design
Sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, including a random household cross-sectional survey on household food insecurity access (HFIA), household dietary diversity (HDD) and women’s BMI, followed by focus group discussions.
Setting
Two rural and two urban areas of Botswana.
Subjects
Persons responsible for food preparation or an adult in a household (n 400); for BMI, non-pregnant women aged 18–49 years (n 253).
Results
Almost two-thirds of households experienced moderate or severe food insecurity (28·8 and 37·3 %, respectively), but more than half of women were overweight or obese (26·9 and 26·9 %, respectively). Median HDD score was 6 (interquartile range 5–7) out of a total of 12. A positive correlation was found between number of TIF accessed and HDD score (r=0·457; P<0·001) and a negative correlation between number of TIF accessed and HFIA score (r=−0·272; P<0·001). There was no correlation between number of TIF accessed and women’s BMI (r=−0·066; P=0·297). TIF were perceived as healthy but with declining consumption due to preference for modern foods.
Conclusions
TIF may potentially have an important role in household food security and dietary diversity. There is need to explore potential benefits that may be associated with their optimal use on food security and nutrition outcomes
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/26716https://doi.org/10.1017/S136898001700369X
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/8A71FDCFB451ECA2B6664ED3E4054EDF/S136898001700369Xa.pdf/household_access_to_traditional_and_indigenous_foods_positively_associated_with_food_security_and_dietary_diversity_in_botswana.pdf
Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences [2385]