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Men's motivations, barriers to and aspirations for their families' health in the first 1000 days in sub-Saharan Africa: a secondary qualitative analysis

Men's motivations, barriers to and aspirations for their families' health in the first 1000 days in sub-Saharan Africa: a secondary qualitative analysis
Men's motivations, barriers to and aspirations for their families' health in the first 1000 days in sub-Saharan Africa: a secondary qualitative analysis
Introduction: The first 1000 days of life are a critical period of growth and development that have lasting implications for health, cognitive, educational and
economic outcomes. In sub-Saharan Africa, gender and social norms are such that many men have little engagement with maternal and child health and nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood. This study explores how men perceive their role in three sites in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: Secondary qualitative analysis of 10 focus group discussions with 76 men in Burkina Faso, Ghana and South Africa. Data were thematically analysed to
explore men’s perceptions of maternal and child health and nutrition.

Results: Men considered themselves ‘providers’ and 'advisors' within their families, particularly of finances, food and medicines. They also indicated that this advice was out of care and concern for their families’ health. There were similarities in how the men perceive their role. Differences between men living in rural and urban settings included health priorities, the advice and the manner in
which it was provided. Across all settings, men wanted to be more involved with maternal and child health and nutrition. Challenges to doing so included stigma and proscribed social gender roles.

Conclusion: Men want a greater engagement in improving maternal and child health and nutrition but felt that their ability to do so was limited by culture-specified gender roles, which are more focused on providing for and advising their families. Involving both men and women in intervention development alongside policymakers, health professionals and researchers is needed to improve maternal and child health and nutrition.
Dietary patterns, Malnutrition
39-45
Watson, Daniella
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Chatio, Samuel T.
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Barker, Mary
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Boua, Palwende Romuald
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Compaoré, Adélaïde
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Dalaba, Maxwell
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Erzse, Agnes
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Godfrey, Keith
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Hofman, Karen
ed913811-6e00-4873-a8ff-e2ecb05ce1fe
Kehoe, Sarah
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Mcgrath, Nuala
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Mukoma, Gudani
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Nonterah, Engelbert A.
63e27d74-7d7b-4fd5-bbbf-41e4a6e02ddf
Norris, Shane A.
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Sorgho, Hermann
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Ward, Kate A.
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Hardy-Johnson, Polly
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Watson, Daniella
271f1bca-0bd0-47b3-95bc-79e39b283c50
Chatio, Samuel T.
9335e5cc-b71c-4366-9066-f9f2b487c000
Barker, Mary
374310ad-d308-44af-b6da-515bf5d2d6d2
Boua, Palwende Romuald
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Compaoré, Adélaïde
dfea4d2b-f2e9-437f-a281-c21a9dc32cb3
Dalaba, Maxwell
7cebbe1c-176f-4045-a5b9-eb2d254e16ad
Erzse, Agnes
f2a28c48-d101-4a56-b26d-de9aa773f0e8
Godfrey, Keith
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
Hofman, Karen
ed913811-6e00-4873-a8ff-e2ecb05ce1fe
Kehoe, Sarah
534e5729-632b-4b4f-8401-164d8c20aa26
Mcgrath, Nuala
b75c0232-24ec-443f-93a9-69e9e12dc961
Mukoma, Gudani
9c731d37-c57f-427f-84a8-d900f7f60a7a
Nonterah, Engelbert A.
63e27d74-7d7b-4fd5-bbbf-41e4a6e02ddf
Norris, Shane A.
34d398b4-a522-493f-8bd2-c4cf8aec8c5a
Sorgho, Hermann
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Ward, Kate A.
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Hardy-Johnson, Polly
49276c2f-01a9-4488-9f30-dc359cf867e0

Watson, Daniella, Chatio, Samuel T., Barker, Mary, Boua, Palwende Romuald, Compaoré, Adélaïde, Dalaba, Maxwell, Erzse, Agnes, Godfrey, Keith, Hofman, Karen, Kehoe, Sarah, Mcgrath, Nuala, Mukoma, Gudani, Nonterah, Engelbert A., Norris, Shane A., Sorgho, Hermann, Ward, Kate A. and Hardy-Johnson, Polly (2023) Men's motivations, barriers to and aspirations for their families' health in the first 1000 days in sub-Saharan Africa: a secondary qualitative analysis. BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, 6 (1), 39-45, [000423]. (doi:10.1136/bmjnph-2022-000423).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Introduction: The first 1000 days of life are a critical period of growth and development that have lasting implications for health, cognitive, educational and
economic outcomes. In sub-Saharan Africa, gender and social norms are such that many men have little engagement with maternal and child health and nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood. This study explores how men perceive their role in three sites in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: Secondary qualitative analysis of 10 focus group discussions with 76 men in Burkina Faso, Ghana and South Africa. Data were thematically analysed to
explore men’s perceptions of maternal and child health and nutrition.

Results: Men considered themselves ‘providers’ and 'advisors' within their families, particularly of finances, food and medicines. They also indicated that this advice was out of care and concern for their families’ health. There were similarities in how the men perceive their role. Differences between men living in rural and urban settings included health priorities, the advice and the manner in
which it was provided. Across all settings, men wanted to be more involved with maternal and child health and nutrition. Challenges to doing so included stigma and proscribed social gender roles.

Conclusion: Men want a greater engagement in improving maternal and child health and nutrition but felt that their ability to do so was limited by culture-specified gender roles, which are more focused on providing for and advising their families. Involving both men and women in intervention development alongside policymakers, health professionals and researchers is needed to improve maternal and child health and nutrition.

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Accepted/In Press date: 24 October 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 17 January 2023
Published date: 28 June 2023
Additional Information: Funding Information: This research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (17\63\154) using UK aid from the UK Government to support global health research. AE and KJH are supported by the SAMRC/Wits Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science — PRICELESS SA (grant number 23108). KMG is supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12011/4), the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR Senior Investigator (NF-SI-0515-10042) and NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (IS-BRC-1215-20004)), the European Union (Erasmus+ Programme ImpENSA 598488-EPP-1-2018-1-DE-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP) and the British Heart Foundation (RG/15/17/3174, SP/F/21/150013). MEB’s research is supported by an NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research (RP-PG-0216-20004) and NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (IS-BRC-1215-20004). NM is a recipient of an NIHR Research Professorship award (Ref: RP-2017-08-ST2-008).’ Publisher Copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Keywords: Dietary patterns, Malnutrition

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 473694
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/473694
PURE UUID: 47a97108-5ed6-431d-a9d6-b019a8ba3f8e
ORCID for Mary Barker: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2976-0217
ORCID for Keith Godfrey: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4643-0618
ORCID for Sarah Kehoe: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2584-7999
ORCID for Nuala Mcgrath: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1039-0159
ORCID for Kate A. Ward: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7034-6750
ORCID for Polly Hardy-Johnson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9659-1447

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Date deposited: 27 Jan 2023 17:51
Last modified: 15 Aug 2024 01:50

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Contributors

Author: Daniella Watson
Author: Samuel T. Chatio
Author: Mary Barker ORCID iD
Author: Palwende Romuald Boua
Author: Adélaïde Compaoré
Author: Maxwell Dalaba
Author: Agnes Erzse
Author: Keith Godfrey ORCID iD
Author: Karen Hofman
Author: Sarah Kehoe ORCID iD
Author: Nuala Mcgrath ORCID iD
Author: Gudani Mukoma
Author: Engelbert A. Nonterah
Author: Shane A. Norris
Author: Hermann Sorgho
Author: Kate A. Ward ORCID iD
Author: Polly Hardy-Johnson ORCID iD

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