Men's nutrition knowledge is important for women's and children's nutrition in Ethiopia

Bibliographic Data

ID15535537
AuthorsRamya Ambikapathi (0000-0002-2013-2516, Purdue University West Lafayette, corresponding author), Simone Passarelli (0000-0003-1044-3393, Harvard University), Isabel Madzorera (0000-0001-7226-5997, Harvard University), Chelsey R Canavan (0000-0002-1372-9015, Harvard Global Health Institute), Ramadhani Noor (0000-0001-6479-1452, Harvard University), Ramadhani A Noor (Departments of Nutrition Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Boston Massachusetts USA), Semira Abdelmenan (0000-0003-2753-8364, Addis Continental Institute of Public Health), Dagmawit Tewahido (0000-0002-2481-8910, Addis Continental Institute of Public Health), Amare Worku Tadesse (0000-0002-7805-3191, Addis Continental Institute of Public Health), Lindiwe Majele Sibanda (Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network), Lindiwe Sibanda (Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network Pretoria South Africa), Simbarashe Sibanda (Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network), Bertha Munthali (Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network), Tshilidzi Madzivhandila (Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network), Yemane Berhane (0000-0002-2527-1339, Addis Continental Institute of Public Health), Wafaie W Fawzi (0000-0002-2908-600X, Harvard University), Wafaie Fawzi (Departments of Nutrition Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Boston Massachusetts USA), Nilupa S Gunaratna (0000-0003-2504-4694, Purdue University West Lafayette)
Year2020
Volume17
Issue1
Pagese13062-e13062
Publication date2020-08-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMaternal and Child Nutrition (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1740-8695 • E-ISSN: 1740-8709
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/mcn.13062
PMID32755057
OpenAlexW3047483069
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited29

In an effort to address undernutrition among women and children in rural areas of low-income countries, nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) and behaviour change communication (BCC) projects heavily focus on women as an entry point to effect nutritional outcomes. There is limited evidence on the role of men's contribution in improving household diets. In this Agriculture to Nutrition trial (Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT03152227), we explored associations between men's and women's nutritional knowledge on households', children's and women's dietary diversity. At the midline evaluation conducted in July 2017, FAO's nutrition knowledge questionnaire was administered to male and female partners in 1396 households. There was a high degree of agreement (88%) on knowledge about exclusive breastfeeding between parents; however, only 56-66% of the households had agreement when comparing knowledge of dietary sources of vitamin A or iron. Factor analysis of knowledge dimensions resulted in identifying two domains, namely, 'dietary' and 'vitamin' knowledge. Dietary knowledge had a larger effect on women's and children's dietary diversities than vitamin knowledge. Men's dietary knowledge had strong positive associations with households' dietary diversity scores (0.24, P value = 0.001), children's dietary diversity (0.19, P value = 0.008) and women's dietary diversity (0.18, P value < 0.001). Distance to markets and men's education levels modified the effects of nutrition knowledge on dietary diversity. While previous NSA and BCC interventions predominantly focused on uptake among women, there is a large gap and strong potential for men's engagement in improving household nutrition. Interventions that expand the role of men in NSA may synergistically improve household nutrition outcomes

Agriculture · Breastfeeding · Dietary diversity · Dietary Reference Intake · Diversity (politics · Environmental health · Food security · Geography · Malnutrition · Nutrient · Nutrition Education · Psychological intervention · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · Medicine · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Gerontology · Pediatrics