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Ambikapathi R, Boncyk M, Gunaratna NS, Fawzi W, Leyna G, Kadiyala S, Patil CL. Expanding the food environment framework to include family dynamics: A systematic synthesis of qualitative evidence using HIV as a case study. GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY 2024; 42:100788. [PMID: 39309213 PMCID: PMC11413529 DOI: 10.1016/j.gfs.2024.100788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Revised: 05/26/2024] [Accepted: 07/15/2024] [Indexed: 09/25/2024]
Abstract
Food environment changes in low- and middle-income countries are increasing diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This paper synthesizes the qualitative evidence about how family dynamics shape food choices within the context of HIV (Prospero: CRD42021226283). Guided by structuration theory and food environment framework, we used best-fit framework analysis to develop the Family Dynamics Food Environment Framework (FDF) comprising three interacting dimensions (resources, characteristics, and action orientation). Findings show how the three food environment domains (personal, family, external) interact to affect food choices within families affected by HIV. Given the growing prevalence of noncommunicable and chronic diseases, the FDF can be applied beyond the context of HIV to guide effective and optimal nutritional policies for the whole family.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramya Ambikapathi
- Department of Global Development, Cornell University, USA
- Department of Public Health, Purdue University, USA
| | - Morgan Boncyk
- Department of Public Health, Purdue University, USA
- Department of Health Promotion, Education and Behavior, University of South Carolina, USA
| | | | - Wafaie Fawzi
- Department of Global Health, Harvard Chan School of Public Health, USA
| | - Germana Leyna
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciencesr, Tanzania
- Tanzania Food and Nutrition Center, Tanzania
| | - Suneetha Kadiyala
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Crystal L. Patil
- Department of Health Behavior and Biological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
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Isanovic S, Constantinides SV, Frongillo EA, Bhandari S, Samin S, Kenney E, Wertheim-Heck S, Nordhagen S, Holdsworth M, Dominguez-Salas P, Ambikapathi R, Laar A, Patil CL, Kulkarni B, Bukachi SA, Ngutu M, Blake CE. How Perspectives on Food Safety of Vendors and Consumers Translate into Food-Choice Behaviors in 6 African and Asian Countries. Curr Dev Nutr 2023; 7:100015. [PMID: 37181131 PMCID: PMC10100931 DOI: 10.1016/j.cdnut.2022.100015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Revised: 10/30/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Consumption of unsafe foods increases morbidity and mortality and is currently an issue, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Policy actions to ensure food safety are dominated by mitigation of biological and chemical hazards through supply-side risk management, lessening the degree to which consumer perspectives of food safety are considered. Objectives This study aimed to provide an in-depth understanding, from vendor and consumer perspectives, of how food-safety concerns of consumers translate into their subsequent food-choice behaviors in 6 diverse low- and middle-income countries. Methods Six Drivers of Food Choice projects (2016-2022) provided transcripts from 17 focus group discussions and 343 interviews conducted in Ghana, Guinea, India, Kenya, Tanzania, and Vietnam. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to identify emerging themes important to food safety. Results The analysis suggests that consumers constructed meaning about food safety through personal lived experience and social influences. Community and family members contributed knowledge about food safety. Concerns about food safety were influenced by reputations of and relationships with food vendors. Consumers' mistrust of food vendors was amplified by purposeful adulteration or unsafe selling practices and new methods used to produce food. Moreover, consumers were reassured of food safety by positive relationships with vendors; meals cooked at home; implementation of policies and following regulations; vendor adherence to environmental sanitation and food-hygiene practices; cleanliness of vendors' appearance; and vendors' or producers' agency to use risk mitigation strategies in production, processing, and distribution of food. Conclusions Consumers integrated their meanings, knowledge, and concerns about food safety to achieve assurance about the safety of their foods when making food-choice decisions. The success of food-safety policies hinges on consideration of consumers' food-safety concerns in their design and implementation, alongside actions to reduce risk in food supply.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sejla Isanovic
- Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Shilpa V. Constantinides
- Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Edward A. Frongillo
- Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Shiva Bhandari
- Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Sharraf Samin
- Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Emma Kenney
- Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Sigrid Wertheim-Heck
- Environmental Policy Group, Department of Social Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | | | - Michelle Holdsworth
- Montpellier Interdisciplinary Center on Sustainable Agri-food Systems, University of Montpellier, French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies, Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier, French National Institute for Agricultural Research, Institut Agro, French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development, Montpellier, France
| | - Paula Dominguez-Salas
- Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom
- International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Ramya Ambikapathi
- Department of Public Health, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
- Department of Global Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Amos Laar
- University of Ghana, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, School of Public Health, Accra, Ghana
| | - Crystal L. Patil
- Department of Human Development Nursing Science, University of Illinois–Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Bharati Kulkarni
- Division of Reproductive Biology, Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, V. Ramalingaswami Bhawan, New Delhi, India
| | - Salome A. Bukachi
- Institute of Anthropology, Gender and African Studies, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Mariah Ngutu
- Institute of Anthropology, Gender and African Studies, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Christine E. Blake
- Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
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Food Environments and Their Influence on Food Choices: A Case Study in Informal Settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. Nutrients 2022; 14:nu14132571. [PMID: 35807752 PMCID: PMC9268418 DOI: 10.3390/nu14132571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Revised: 06/11/2022] [Accepted: 06/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The food environments that people have access to shape their food choices. The purpose of this study was to use mixed methods to characterize the external food environment in informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya and to examine the individual factors that influence the way in which women interact with those environments to make food choices. We used a combination of food environment assessments (vendor mapping, collection of food prices, food quality assessments) and five focus group discussions with women (n = 26) in four villages within two informal settlements in Nairobi (Mukuru and Kibera) to better understand the drivers of food choice. We found a large number (n = 1163) of vendors selling a variety of food within the settlements. The highest number of vendors were selling fruits and/or vegetables; however, there was limited diversity of fruits available. Animal-source foods were considered relatively expensive as compared to plant-based foods, including prepared fried snacks. We found that the way women interacted with their food environments was influenced by individual factors such as income, time, convenience, and preferences. Our findings suggest that interventions targeting both the external food environment as well as individual factors such as income will be necessary to support healthy diets among low-income populations living in informal settlements in Kenya.
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