Community perceptions on the factors in the social food environment that influence dietary behaviour in cities of Kenya and Ghana: A Photovoice study
Objective
To explore communities' perspectives on the factors in the social food environment that influence dietary behaviours in African cities.
Design
A qualitative study using participatory photography (Photovoice). Participants took and discussed photographs representing factors in the social food environment that influence their dietary behaviours. Follow-up in-depth interviews allowed participants to tell the 'stories' of their photographs. Thematic analysis was conducted, using data driven and theory-driven (based on the socio-ecological model) approaches.
Setting
Three low-income areas of Nairobi (n=48) in Kenya, and Accra (n=62) and Ho (n=32) in Ghana. Participants Adolescents and adults, male and female aged ≥13 years.
Results
The 'people' who were the most commonly reported as influencers of dietary behaviours within the social food environment included family members, friends, health workers and food vendors. They mainly influenced food purchase, preparation and consumption, through 1) considerations for family members' food preferences, 2) considerations for family members' health and nutrition needs, 3) social support by family and friends, 4) provision of nutritional advice and modelling food behaviour by parents and health professionals, 5) food vendors' services and social qualities.
Conclusions
The family presents an opportunity for promoting healthy dietary behaviours between family members. Peer groups could be harnessed to promote healthy dietary behaviours among adolescents and youth. Empowering food vendors to provide healthier and safer food options could enhance healthier food sourcing, purchasing and consumption in African low-income urban communities.
Funding
To gain a deep understanding of the drivers of food choice among the poor in developing countries in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Find out more...Dietary transitions in African cities: leveraging evidence for interventions and policy to prevent diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs)
Medical Research Council
Find out more...History
School
- Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Published in
Public Health NutritionVolume
26Issue
3Pages
661 - 673Publisher
Cambridge University PressVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)
Rights holder
© The Author(s)Publisher statement
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Acceptance date
2022-10-04Publication date
2022-10-28Copyright date
2022ISSN
1368-9800eISSN
1475-2727Publisher version
Language
- en