Browsing by Subject "qualitative study"

Infant undernutrition with associated diseases is a leading cause of under-five deaths globally, causing 45% of child deaths. A critical point for the nutritional status of the infant is the time when the first foods are introduced in addition to breastfeeding, i.e. complementary feeding. Based on prior research, complementary feeding practices are inadequate in East Africa, including Uganda. Particular concerns are the not timely introduction of complementary foods and low dietary diversity of children under two years. Complementary feeding is a complex set of behaviours. Good complementary feeding comprises, in addition to nutritious food itself, the feeding moment, technique and style. The promotion of good complementary feeding practices therefore demands multiple approaches. The aim of this study was to explore complementary feeding perceptions and practices in the context of the Health Belief Model (HBM) and to gain understanding on how to promote health behaviour change for better complementary feeding. The study was carried out in the rural area of Kirewa, Uganda. All together 9 focus group discussions (FGD) were held for caretakers of children under two: mothers, fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers. A set of educational videos on infant care and feeding practices, the GloCal-videos, were used as a projective tool in the FGDs. In addition, one individual interview with the local health care worker was conducted. The data from the FGDs and the interview were analysed with a deductive content analysis method based on the HBM. The findings from this research demonstrate that complementary feeding practices among the study participants were suboptimal in relation to timing, dietary diversity, consistency and feeding frequency. The importance of complementary feeding as a health behaviour preventing malnutrition and stunting was not understood among these Kirewan caretakers. The findings from the HBM based analysis suggest messages about the susceptibility of children to detrimental consequences of poor feeding and their seriousness should be targeted to caretakers. Based on this study, the GloCal-videos may work as cues to action for better complementary feeding practices.

Objectives The term natural is highly ambiguous and there is no clear definition, what actually is natural food. Nowadays the term is widely used in the food industry, for example in product packaging and marketing. However, as there is no common understanding for the term or any regulations of its use, it could cause confusion amongst consumers. This research was set out to explore consumers’ perceptions of natural food. The main objective of this study was to form an understanding of the meanings consumers give to natural food and how they categorize foods as natural and unnatural. Methodology This research is qualitative in nature. To assess the research topic, ten thematic, semi-structured interviews were conducted with urban Finnish women aged 23-32 years. They were generally open to new foods, hence less neophobic. As part of the interviews a categorization task was presented, in which the participants were asked to categorize 30 different protein sources from natural to unnatural. The purpose of the categorization task was to assist in revealing how consumers categorize foods, or more precisely protein sources, as natural and unnatural. Key findings The main findings were that consumers categorize foods as natural based on three various aspects: 1) processing, 2) additives and 3) packaging. Furthermore, three different meanings were found to be associated with naturalness of food: 1) healthiness, 2) familiarity and 3) locality. The study offers contributions to research concerning the perceived naturalness of food and the definitions of naturalness. It presents insights of the consumer group of urban Finnish women, who are generally open to trying new foods linking the previous research on the perceived naturalness of food to a new consumer group and cultural context. The study offers some interesting insights especially for developers of novel food products. It also offers possibilities for future research; for example there seems to be noteworthy differences between the perceived naturalness of plant-based and animal-derived protein sources. Additionally, the research reveals there is a need to further study the value conflicts concerning the perceived naturalness of food and other ideals.