Nutrition and Security
Household Food Insecurity and Nutritional Status of Children and Women in Malawi
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ogbochi McKinney, Pamela Mukaire
Limited information is available on the relationship between household food insecurity and nutritional status of Malawian children and women based on a nationally representative sample. We assess the association between food insecurity and nutritional status of Malawian children and women using data from the 2015-2016 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale was used to assess food insecurity. Body mass index (BMI) was used to assess the nutritional status of women, and stunting, wasting, and underweight to assess the nutritional status of children under 5 years of age. The data was analyzed using binary logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression in SPSS 24 to examine the associations between the variables. In severely food-insecure households, 37.1% of children were stunted, 2.7% were wasted, and 5.0% were overweight; 7.2% of women had a BMI below 18.5 kg/m2 while 20.7% of women had a BMI greater than 25.0 kg/m2. There is a significant association between food insecurity and malnutrition among children in Malawi. Among women, food insecurity is associated with overweight.
Nutritional Outcomes for Rural Older Adults Participating in Home-delivered Food Ration Program
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Pamela Mukaire, Ogbochi McKinney, Nnenna Ananaba
Although hunger and food vulnerability are often associated with low income and limited sources, poor nutrition outcomes are worsened by poor physical and mental health. The program targets rural eastern Uganda adults over the age of 60 who are food insecure, malnourished, with one or more chronic illnesses. Intervention includes providing monthly food ration, medical care, nutrition education and social support. Registered nurses conduct nutrition baseline intervention screening and three, six, and nine month nutrition intervention screening. Rural Catchment area A has a total of 38 participants, and majority are female, average age of 67, widowed, low education, below poverty line, initially reported poor health. The most common ailments included hypertension, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS. Baseline results indicated 98% participant malnourishment compared to 62% at month 6 post intervention. Additionally, 92% reported consuming 1-2 meals a day, limited nutritious food variety; 72% reported fair-poor appetite and special diets for health reasons. Overall, the percentage contribution of program meals to participants’ daily food intakes (reported by participants as source of food in the 24-hour dietary recall within 1-4 days of food delivery) indicated that 96% of participants consumed three program meals a day. Other reported program participation outcomes included increased social and professional support, and increased caretaker knowledge of elderly nutritional needs, and dietary aspects of chronic disease management. The program is working to broaden the intervention to eliminate hunger as well improve access to health care, agricultural inputs for food recovery and social support networks.
A Study of Consumers' Product Knowledge, Involvement, and Purchase Intentions Towards Clean Label Products
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Chia Chun Hu
In light of the fact that increasing consumer emphasis is being placed on the concepts of safety, health, and environmental protection, and that consumer groups are now attentive toward the issues of greenism and sustainable development, certification label has become an important tool for aiding consumers in evaluating food safety, health, and environmental friendliness. Hence, there have been products on the market that advertise "Clean Label," which emphasizes simple process and avoids unnecessary food additives. In this study, consumer purchase intention for the use of clean label and its influencing factors are discussed, using product knowledge and involvement as the independent variable. The target is the consumer who has experience in clean label products. This study explores snowball sampling. The formal questionnaire was sent to 292 participants. After eliminating invalid samples, we retained 265 valid questionnaires for analysis (a valid response rate of 90.75 %). The results indicated that structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to test the research hypotheses. The results indicated that: (1) Consumers’ involvement of clean label products significantly influences purchase intention; (2) Consumers’ product knowledge of clean label products significantly influences purchase intention and involvement. Based on these results, enhancing consumers’ education about food security is suggested. Furthermore, the findings provide crucial insights for marketing channels, suggesting the food industry can target consumers’ certification label concerning clean label products as the key to purchase intention and attract business by developing practical marketing strategies.
