scholarly journals A Community-Based Approach to Integrating Socio, Cultural and Environmental Contexts in the Development of a Food Database for Indigenous and Rural Populations: The Case of the Batwa and Bakiga in South-Western Uganda

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 3503
Author(s):  
Giulia Scarpa ◽  
Lea Berrang-Ford ◽  
Sabastian Twesigomwe ◽  
Paul Kakwangire ◽  
Remco Peters ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Food Composition ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Food Culture ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Food Composition Tables ◽  
Dietary Transition ◽  
Western Uganda

Comprehensive food lists and databases are a critical input for programs aiming to alleviate undernutrition. However, standard methods for developing them may produce databases that are irrelevant for marginalised groups where nutritional needs are highest. Our study provides a method for identifying critical contextual information required to build relevant food lists for Indigenous populations. For our study, we used mixed-methods study design with a community-based approach. Between July and October 2019, we interviewed 74 participants among Batwa and Bakiga communities in south-western Uganda. We conducted focus groups discussions (FGDs), individual dietary surveys and markets and shops assessment. Locally validated information on foods consumed among Indigenous populations can provide results that differ from foods listed in the national food composition tables; in fact, the construction of food lists is influenced by multiple factors such as food culture and meaning of food, environmental changes, dietary transition, and social context. Without using a community-based approach to understanding socio-environmental contexts, we would have missed 33 commonly consumed recipes and foods, and we would not have known the variety of ingredients’ quantity in each recipe, and traditional foraged foods. The food culture, food systems and nutrition of Indigenous and vulnerable communities are unique, and need to be considered when developing food lists.

scholarly journals Developing an online food composition database for an Indigenous population in south-western Uganda

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Giulia Scarpa ◽  
Lea Berrang-Ford ◽  
Areej O. Bawajeeh ◽  
Sabastian Twesigomwe ◽  
Paul Kakwangire ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Packaging ◽  
Indigenous Population ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Dietary Assessment ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Food Composition ◽  
Food Composition Tables ◽  
Quality Checks ◽  
Western Uganda

Abstract Objective: To develop an online food composition database of locally consumed foods among an Indigenous population in south-western Uganda. Design: Using a community-based approach and collaboration with local nutritionists, we collected a list of foods for inclusion in the database through focus group discussions, an individual dietary survey and markets and shops assessment. The food database was then created using seven steps: identification of foods for inclusion in the database; initial data cleaning and removal of duplicate items; linkage of foods to existing generic food composition tables; mapping and calculation of the nutrient content of recipes and foods; allocating portion sizes and accompanying foods; quality checks with local and international nutritionists; translation into relevant local languages. Setting: Kanungu District, south-western Uganda. Participants: 74 participants, 36 Indigenous Batwa and 38 Bakiga, were randomly selected and interviewed to inform the development of a food list prior the construction of the food database. Results: We developed an online food database for south-western Uganda including 148 commonly consumed foods complete with values for 120 micronutrients and macronutrients. This was for use with the online dietary assessment tool myfood24. Of the locally reported foods included, 56% (n=82 items) of the items were already available in the myfood24 database, while 25% (n= 37 items) were found in existing Ugandan and Tanzanian food databases, 18% (n= 27 items) came from generated recipes, and 1% (n=2 items) from food packaging labels. Conclusion: Locally relevant food databases are sparse for African Indigenous communities. Here we created a tool that can be used for assessing food intake and for tracking under-nutrition among the communities living in Kanungu District. This will help to develop locally relevant food and nutrition policies.

European Food Composition Tables in Translation

1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lenore Arab ◽  
Marion Wittler ◽  
Gotthard Schettler
Keyword(s):  
Food Composition ◽  
Food Composition Tables

scholarly journals Evaluation of the food composition tables: Beyond the divergence of intakes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabuktagin Rahman ◽  
Avonti Basak Tukun ◽  
Santhia Ireen ◽  
Nazma Shaheen
Keyword(s):  
Food Composition ◽  
Food Composition Tables

scholarly journals Decolonizing Health in Canada: A Manitoba First Nation Perspective

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Eni ◽  
Wanda Phillips Beck ◽  
Grace Kyoon Achan ◽  
Josée G. Lavoie ◽  
Kathi Avery Kinew ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Primary Healthcare ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Based Research ◽  
Indigenous Wisdom

Abstract Background This paper focuses on a longitudinal research program in Manitoba, Canada, by the Innovation Supporting Transformation in Community-Based Research Project (iPHIT) to learn from First Nations across the province that have developed effective community-based primary healthcare models. The research is relevant and timely as First Nations across the country, and Indigenous populations globally, work towards improvements in population health and health equity via critical analysis and restructuring of health services. The purpose of the paper is to deepen an understanding of decolonization as it is defined within the communities, as a central aspect of health restructuring. Methods The study is a qualitative, grounded theory analysis, which is a constructivist approach to social research that allows for generation of theory in praxis, through interactions and conversations between researchers and research participants. Findings are based on 183 in-depth interviews and eight focus group discussions with participants from 8 Manitoba First Nation communities. The study was designed to understand strengths, limitations and priorities of primary healthcare strategies and frameworks of the communities. The iPHIT team was an active collaborative partnership between the First Nation communities, First Nation Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba, and the University of Manitoba. The First Nation partners led in all aspects of the research, from development to implementation, data collection, analyses, and dissemination. Respected Elders from the communities also guided in appropriate research and engagement protocols. Results Data was coded and then grouped into 4 interconnecting themes. These are: (1) First Nation control of healthcare, (2) traditional medicine and healing activities, (3) full community participation, and (4) moving out of colonization involves cleaning up and moving beyond the mess that colonization has inflicted. Conclusion Decolonizing health involves a taking back of Indigenous wisdom and traditional activities; connections to the land, resources; intra- and inter-community relationships. Participants emphasized the value of full community engagement with respect to inclusion of different interpretations of and experiences in the world, highlighting creation of a shared vision. The study focused on First Nation community experiences and interests in Manitoba specifically, though the data may be applicable to national and global decolonization efforts.

scholarly journals Expressions of climate perturbations in western Ugandan crater lake sediment records during the last 1000 yr

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 5183-5226 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Mills ◽  
D. B. Ryves ◽  
N. J. Anderson ◽  
C. L. Bryant ◽  
J. J. Tyler
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
East Africa ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Ecosystem Response ◽  
Large Lakes ◽  
Crater Lakes ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Western Uganda

Abstract. Equatorial East Africa has a complex, regional patchwork of climate regimes, with multiple interacting drivers. Recent studies have focussed on large lakes and reveal signals that are smoothed in both space and time, and, whilst useful at a continental scale, are of less relevance when understanding short-term, abrupt or immediate impacts of climate and environmental changes. Smaller-scale studies have highlighted spatial complexity and regional heterogeneity of tropical palaeoenvironments in terms of responses to climatic forcing (e.g. the Little Ice Age [LIA]) and questions remain over the spatial extent and synchroneity of climatic changes seen in East African records. Sediment cores from paired crater lakes in western Uganda were examined to assess ecosystem response to long-term climate and environmental change as well as testing responses to multiple drivers using redundancy analysis. These archives provide annual to sub-decadal records of environmental change. The records from the two lakes demonstrate an individualistic response to external (e.g. climatic) drivers, however, some of the broader patterns observed across East Africa suggest that the lakes are indeed sensitive to climatic perturbations such as a dry Mediaeval Climate Anomaly (MCA; 1000–1200 AD) and a relatively drier climate during the main phase of the LIA (1500–1800 AD); though lake levels in western Uganda do fluctuate. The relationship of Ugandan lakes to regional climate drivers breaks down c. 1800 AD, when major changes in the ecosystems appear to be a response to sediment and nutrient influxes as a result of increasing cultural impacts within the lake catchments. The data highlight the complexity of individual lake response to climate forcing, indicating shifting drivers through time. This research also highlights the importance of using multi-lake studies within a landscape to allow for rigorous testing of climate reconstructions, forcing and ecosystem response.

The study of life and food systems for Native Hawaiians based on their environment

2021 ◽  
pp. 117718012110382
Author(s):  
Mapuana CK Antonio ◽  
Kuaiwi Laka Makua ◽  
Samantha Keaulana ◽  
LeShay Keliiholokai ◽  
J Kahaulahilahi Vegas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Nutrition Transition ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Native Hawaiians ◽  
Social Barriers ◽  
Community Engaged Research ◽  
Adverse Health Outcomes

Health and well-being are a function of familial relationships between Native Hawaiians and their land. As a result of settler colonialism, Native Hawaiians face systemic and social barriers, which impede their relationship to land, with implications of adverse health outcomes. This qualitative study explores changes in health among Native Hawaiians, with a specific focus on food systems and the environment. Community-engaged research approaches were utilized to recruit 12 Hawaiian adults. The major themes include the following: (1) health as holistic and a harmonious balance, (2) nutrition transition and current connections to ‘āina (land extending from the mountain to the sea; that which feeds or nourishes), and (3) food sovereignty and community solutions to uplift the Lāhui (Nation of Hawai‘i). Consideration of cultural values, community strengths, and traditional lifestyle practices may address health inequities and changes in food systems related to health that stem from colonization, determinants of health, and environmental changes.

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