Community perspectives on maternal and child health during nutrition and economic transition in sub-Saharan Africa

Dados Bibliográficos

ID15096219
AutoresDaniella Watson (0000-0001-6353-7495, University of Southampton, autor correspondente), Sarah H Kehoe (0000-0003-2584-7999, MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit), Agnes Erzse (0000-0001-9303-9323, South African Medical Research Council), Adélaïde Compaoré (0000-0003-4798-0619, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé), Cornelius Debpuur (0000-0003-0968-5280, Navrongo Health Research Centre), Engelbert A Nonterah (0000-0001-8491-6478, Navrongo Health Research Centre), Hermann Sorgho (0000-0003-1595-5152, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé), Shane A Norri (0000-0001-7124-3788, South African Medical Research Council), Shane A Norris, Karen J Hofman, Karen Hofman (0000-0001-9512-7220, South African Medical Research Council), Wayne Lawrence (0000-0003-1264-0438, NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre), Wendy Lawrence, Marie-Louise Newell (0000-0002-1074-7699, University of the Witwatersrand), Keith M Godfrey (0000-0003-3025-5269, NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre), Kate A Ward (0000-0001-7034-6750, University of the Witwatersrand), Marie E Barker (0000-0003-2976-0217, University of the Witwatersrand)
Ano2021
Volume24
Fascículo12
Páginas3710-3718
Data de publicação2021-08-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPublic Health Nutrition (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1368-9800 • E-ISSN: 1475-2727
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1368980020003018
PMID32928324
OpenAlexW3087341608
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas10
Referências citadas39

Objective: To explore community perceptions on maternal and child nutrition issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Design: Thirty focus groups with men and women from three communities facilitated by local researchers. Setting: One urban (Soweto, South Africa) and two rural settings (Navrongo, Ghana and Nanoro, Burkina Faso) at different stages of economic transition. Participants: Two hundred thirty-seven men and women aged 18–55 years, mostly subsistence farmers in Navrongo and Nanoro and low income in Soweto. Results: Differences in community concerns about maternal and child health and nutrition reflected the transitional stage of the country. Community priorities revolved around poor nutrition and hunger caused by poverty, lack of economic opportunity and traditional gender roles. Men and women felt they had limited control over food and other resources. Women wanted men to take more responsibility for domestic chores, including food provision, while men wanted more involvement in their families but felt unable to provide for them. Solutions suggested focusing on ways of increasing control over economic production, family life and domestic food supplies. Rural communities sought agricultural support, while the urban community wanted regulation of the food environment. Conclusions: To be acceptable and effective, interventions to improve maternal and child nutrition need to take account of communities’ perceptions of their needs and address wider determinants of nutritional status and differences in access to food reflecting the stage of the country’s economic transition. Findings suggest that education and knowledge are necessary but not sufficient to support improvements in women’s and children’s nutritional status

Agriculture · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental health · Food security · Geography · Nutrition transition · Population · Poverty · Psychological intervention · Rural area · Socioeconomic status · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Subsistence agriculture · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · Medicine · Nursing · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare