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

Community perspectives on maternal and child health during nutrition and economic transition in sub-Saharan Africa
Community perspectives on maternal and child health during nutrition and economic transition in sub-Saharan Africa
Objective: to explore community perceptions of maternal and child nutrition issues in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Design: 30 focus groups with men and women from 3 communities facilitated by local researchers.

Setting: one urban (Soweto, South Africa); two rural settings (Navrongo, Ghana and Nanoro, Burkina Faso) at different stages of economic transition.

Participants: 237 men and women aged 18-55, 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 focused 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.

Conclusion: to be acceptable and effective, interventions to improve maternal and child nutrition need to take account of communities’ perceptions of their needs, 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.
1368-9800
3710 - 3718
Watson, Daniella
26005c9f-779f-407b-b7e4-b7c9b812b6be
Kehoe, Sarah
534e5729-632b-4b4f-8401-164d8c20aa26
Erzse, Agnes
b47d7911-b2e0-4728-a0b7-2680ee254c69
Compaore, Adelaide
d69acd4c-e4b3-4c3d-be95-cfe305857c94
Debpuur, Cornelius
86cc89d7-984e-4a7b-8130-5461a00d2bec
Nonterah, Engelbert A.
aacb7a34-ceef-4a9f-93b8-707a29db42c6
Sorgho, Hermann
a8891940-5da3-42ad-b486-9504c0c53804
Norris, Shane
1d346f1b-6d5f-4bca-ac87-7589851b75a4
Hofman, Karen J.
c4f9b7ec-6446-4eae-9af1-36af699f7d47
Lawrence, Wendy
e9babc0a-02c9-41df-a289-7b18f17bf7d8
Newell, Marie-Louise
c6ff99dd-c23b-4fef-a846-a221fe2522b3
Godfrey, Keith
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
Ward, Kathryn
39bd4db1-c948-4e32-930e-7bec8deb54c7
Barker, Mary
374310ad-d308-44af-b6da-515bf5d2d6d2
INPreP group
Watson, Daniella
26005c9f-779f-407b-b7e4-b7c9b812b6be
Kehoe, Sarah
534e5729-632b-4b4f-8401-164d8c20aa26
Erzse, Agnes
b47d7911-b2e0-4728-a0b7-2680ee254c69
Compaore, Adelaide
d69acd4c-e4b3-4c3d-be95-cfe305857c94
Debpuur, Cornelius
86cc89d7-984e-4a7b-8130-5461a00d2bec
Nonterah, Engelbert A.
aacb7a34-ceef-4a9f-93b8-707a29db42c6
Sorgho, Hermann
a8891940-5da3-42ad-b486-9504c0c53804
Norris, Shane
1d346f1b-6d5f-4bca-ac87-7589851b75a4
Hofman, Karen J.
c4f9b7ec-6446-4eae-9af1-36af699f7d47
Lawrence, Wendy
e9babc0a-02c9-41df-a289-7b18f17bf7d8
Newell, Marie-Louise
c6ff99dd-c23b-4fef-a846-a221fe2522b3
Godfrey, Keith
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
Ward, Kathryn
39bd4db1-c948-4e32-930e-7bec8deb54c7
Barker, Mary
374310ad-d308-44af-b6da-515bf5d2d6d2

Watson, Daniella, Kehoe, Sarah, Erzse, Agnes, Compaore, Adelaide, Debpuur, Cornelius, Nonterah, Engelbert A., Sorgho, Hermann, Norris, Shane, Hofman, Karen J., Lawrence, Wendy, Newell, Marie-Louise, Godfrey, Keith, Ward, Kathryn and Barker, Mary , INPreP group (2020) Community perspectives on maternal and child health during nutrition and economic transition in sub-Saharan Africa. Public Health Nutrition, 24 (12), 3710 - 3718. (doi:10.1017/S1368980020003018).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Objective: to explore community perceptions of maternal and child nutrition issues in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Design: 30 focus groups with men and women from 3 communities facilitated by local researchers.

Setting: one urban (Soweto, South Africa); two rural settings (Navrongo, Ghana and Nanoro, Burkina Faso) at different stages of economic transition.

Participants: 237 men and women aged 18-55, 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 focused 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.

Conclusion: to be acceptable and effective, interventions to improve maternal and child nutrition need to take account of communities’ perceptions of their needs, 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.

Text
Community perspective Nutrition and Economic Transitions manuscript v6 - Accepted Manuscript
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 24 July 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 15 September 2020

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 444120
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/444120
ISSN: 1368-9800
PURE UUID: 64c60157-dc71-4dce-8a82-0e3e989a1924
ORCID for Sarah Kehoe: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2584-7999
ORCID for Shane Norris: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7124-3788
ORCID for Wendy Lawrence: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1264-0438
ORCID for Marie-Louise Newell: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1074-7699
ORCID for Keith Godfrey: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4643-0618
ORCID for Kathryn Ward: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7034-6750
ORCID for Mary Barker: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2976-0217

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 28 Sep 2020 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 05:56

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Contributors

Author: Daniella Watson
Author: Sarah Kehoe ORCID iD
Author: Agnes Erzse
Author: Adelaide Compaore
Author: Cornelius Debpuur
Author: Engelbert A. Nonterah
Author: Hermann Sorgho
Author: Shane Norris ORCID iD
Author: Karen J. Hofman
Author: Wendy Lawrence ORCID iD
Author: Keith Godfrey ORCID iD
Author: Kathryn Ward ORCID iD
Author: Mary Barker ORCID iD
Corporate Author: INPreP group

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