Why Acute Undernutrition? A Qualitative Exploration of Food Preferences, Perceptions and Factors Underlying Diet in Adolescent Girls in Rural Communities in Nigeria
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1. Theoretical Framework
2.2. Study Design, Area and Sites
2.3. Study Population
3. Data Management
3.1. Data-Collection Instrument
3.2. Data Analyses
4. Statistical Analyses
5. Results
5.1. Study Themes
5.2. Knowledge of Basic Concepts in Nutrition
“Pepper, salt and maggi [bouillon cube]” (Adolescent, 14 years, Darazo LGA)
“Rice, talea [spaghetti], gwate [porridge], tuwo, Indomie [noodles], beans porridge, offals and meat” (Adolescent, 11 years, Darazo LGA)
“Maggi [bouillon cubes], salt, oil, pepper and curry” (Adolescent,13 years, Ningi LGA)
“Milk [fresh cow’s milk and evaporated, unsweetened], vegetables, pepper soup” (Adolescent, 14 years, Tafawa Balewa LGA)
Energy giving foods and body-building foods” (Adolescent, 14 years, Alkaleri LGA)
“Foods that make us grow fat” (Adolescent, 12 years, Alkaleri LGA)
5.3. Foods That Girls and Women Should Eat
“Eggs, noodles (instant), beans, meat and macaroni” (Adolescent, 12 years, Gamawa LGA)
“I don’t know that there is any food specifically that girls and women should eat” (Adolescent, 12 years, Darazo LGA)
“Oranges, carrots, meat, fish and gwaten wake [bean porridge]” (Adolescent, 15 years, Darazo LGA)
“Any type of food available, as far as they are all food, we eat them” (Adolescent, 12 years, Shira LGA)
5.4. Reasons for Food Preferences
“They are tasty, they promote health, they make people grow fat, they give blood” (Adolescent, 12 years, Tafawa Balewa LGA)
“I love ice cream because it is chilled and cools me down when I take it. After eating a meal, the sweet taste of ice cream is pleasurable” (Adolescent, 12 years, Darazo LGA)
“I like jollof rice and jollof spaghetti because I enjoy chewing them, unlike tuwo [stiff cereal pudding] that is swallowed [without chewing]” (Adolescent, 14 years, Darazo LGA)
“These foods make us look fine and we grow fat, so that when people see us, they feel like marrying us” (Adolescent, 13 years, Shira LGA)
“I usually like fried yam with egg, and Naman Suya [beef barbeque]”[…] We like these foods because they are very sweet [meaning tasty]” (Adolescent, 13 years, Ningi LGA).
5.5. Autonomy
“I want to marry next year, so I can be independent, to cook what I want, and do everything that I want to” (Adolescent, 13 years, Darazo LGA)
“We are not usually given meat, milk, fish and eggs to eat at home. Our parents sometimes say the reason is because of the school fees that they have to pay, so they cannot afford these foods, since our families are large” (Adolescent, 13 years, Tafawa Balewa LGA)
“Me, I don’t want to marry early, because I want to go to [secondary] school and be educated. I don’t want to marry at less than 20 years” (Adolescent, 15 years, Darazo LGA)
5.6. Gender Disparities in Household Access to Food
“No. Usually boys have larger portions than girls in the house. The reason is because of their nature and their body size. Another reason is that they do a lot of heavy work, so they eat a lot” (Adolescent, 13 years, Darazo LGA)
“The quantity given to girls and boys is not the same. Haba! Su fa maza ne [they are boys]!” (Adolescent, 13 years, Gamawa LGA)
“Boys’ and our fathers’ food at home is bigger than ours because they said they need more energy than we do. Because of the nature of their bodies and the nature of the jobs that they do. They usually go to the farm, market, and other social meetings. Also, they need strength to make babies and impregnate us” (Adolescent, 12 years, Shira LGA)
“Yes, both boys and girls are given the same share of animal foods” (Adolescent, 14 years, Darazo LGA)
“The portions of animal foods that girls receive is not equal to that of boys” (Adolescent, 11 years, Alkaleri LGA)
5.7. Marriage and Courtship Practices in the Community
“At 14–17, if you have passed that age, nobody will marry you” (Adolescent, 12 years, Shira LGA)
“From 15 to 20 years. Nowadays, we prefer to marry when we finish secondary school after we have learned to read and write” (Adolescent, 16 years, Tafawa Balewa LGA)
“At 14–16 years, when we finish our [primary] school. If you have passed that age, people will say, you are a bad person, that is why no one wants to marry you” (Adolescent, 11 years, Ningi LGA)
“My wedding is coming up after the [Muslim] fasting. My husband-to-be is the one that gave me meat yesterday” (Adolescent, 14 years, Gamawa LGA)
“It’s only if our boyfriends come for “hira” [evening discussion] that they will bring suya [beef barbeque]” (Adolescent, 14 years, Gamawa LGA)
“My boyfriend usually brings suya for me, that is why I love him” (Adolescent,13 years, Ningi LGA)
“Usually, it’s once in a month when our boyfriends buy them [animal source foods] for us that we eat these foods” (Adolescent, 13 years, Shira LGA)
5.8. Agricultural Landscapes and Economic Access
“We like these foods [tuwo, groundnuts, beans, sesame] because they grow well in our community. Things like maize do not grow well, so we farm them in very small quantities” (Adolescent, 13 years, Gamawa LGA)
“Fish, eggs, and milk are not given [to us] because of lack of money” (Adolescent, 14 years, Tafawa Balewa LGA)
“The last time we ate meat was during the Muslim Festival [Eid-el Kabir, popularly referred to as Big Sallah] and since then, we have not seen meat” (Adolescent, 13 years, Alkaleri LGA)
“Our parents do not just kill animals for eating at home. They are usually for sale” (Adolescent, 14 years, Alkaleri LGA)
6. Discussion
7. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Characteristics | Frequency | Percent (%) |
---|---|---|
Age group (years) | ||
11–12 | 22 | 45.8 |
13–14 | 16 | 33.4 |
15–16 | 10 | 20.8 |
Education | ||
None | 7 | 14.6 |
Islam-based | 11 | 22.9 |
Some primary school | 23 | 47.9 |
Some secondary school | 7 | 14.6 |
Preferred Foods | n | Mean Rank a | Smith’s Salience Index b | Foods Perceived to Be Nourishing | n | Mean Rank | Smith’s Salience Index |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pasta c | 5 | 2.60 | 0.62 | Beans | 4 | 2.25 | 0.52 |
Rice | 4 | 2.25 | 0.57 | Rice | 3 | 2.00 | 0.44 |
Beans | 5 | 3.20 | 0.56 | Yam | 3 | 2.33 | 0.39 |
Tuwo d | 4 | 4.75 | 0.42 | Beef | 4 | 5.75 | 0.25 |
Yam | 4 | 4.00 | 0.42 | Pasta | 2 | 3.00 | 0.26 |
Egg | 4 | 5.50 | 0.34 | Egg | 3 | 5.33 | 0.23 |
Instant noodles | 2 | 3.00 | 0.27 | Spinach | 2 | 4.00 | 0.19 |
Beef | 3 | 4.67 | 0.21 | Oranges | 1 | 1.00 | 0.17 |
Groundnuts | 1 | 2.00 | 0.13 | Lettuce | 1 | 1.00 | 0.17 |
Danmalele e | 1 | 3.00 | 0.13 | Carrots | 2 | 4.50 | 0.16 |
Danwake f | 2 | 8.50 | 0.11 | Cabbage | 1 | 2.00 | 0.14 |
Cabbage | 1 | 6.00 | 0.10 | Tuwo c | 2 | 4.00 | 0.14 |
Ogbono soup g | 1 | 8.00 | 0.07 | Liver | 1 | 4.00 | 0.12 |
Potatoes | 1 | 8.00 | 0.05 | Groundnuts | 1 | 3.00 | 0.11 |
Sesame seeds | 1 | 4.00 | 0.04 | Bread | 1 | 5.00 | 0.10 |
Dambu h | 1 | 10.00 | 0.04 | Potatoes | 1 | 3.00 | 0.08 |
Ice cream | 1 | 9.00 | 0.03 | Instant noodles | 1 | 5.00 | 0.08 |
Fish | 1 | 9.00 | 0.02 | Sorrel leaves | 1 | 5.00 | 0.07 |
Maltina | 1 | 10.00 | 0.02 | Fish | 1 | 4.00 | 0.07 |
Margarine | 1 | 7.00 | 0.07 | ||||
Maltina i | 2 | 8.50 | 0.05 | ||||
Milk | 1 | 6.00 | 0.03 | ||||
Nutrimilk j | 1 | 10.00 | 0.02 |
Level of Influence | Emerging Themes | Key Findings |
---|---|---|
Intrapersonal | Knowledge of basic concepts in nutrition |
|
Food preferences |
| |
Autonomy |
| |
Interpersonal | Household food allocation |
|
Sociocultural | Marriage and courtship practices |
|
Environmental | Agricultural landscapes and economic access |
|
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Sosanya, M.E.; Freeland-Graves, J.H.; Gbemileke, A.O.; Adesanya, O.D.; Akinyemi, O.O.; Ojezele, S.O.; Samuel, F.O. Why Acute Undernutrition? A Qualitative Exploration of Food Preferences, Perceptions and Factors Underlying Diet in Adolescent Girls in Rural Communities in Nigeria. Nutrients 2024, 16, 204. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16020204
Sosanya ME, Freeland-Graves JH, Gbemileke AO, Adesanya OD, Akinyemi OO, Ojezele SO, Samuel FO. Why Acute Undernutrition? A Qualitative Exploration of Food Preferences, Perceptions and Factors Underlying Diet in Adolescent Girls in Rural Communities in Nigeria. Nutrients. 2024; 16(2):204. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16020204
Chicago/Turabian StyleSosanya, Mercy E., Jeanne H. Freeland-Graves, Ayodele O. Gbemileke, Oluwatosin D. Adesanya, Oluwaseun O. Akinyemi, Samuel O. Ojezele, and Folake O. Samuel. 2024. "Why Acute Undernutrition? A Qualitative Exploration of Food Preferences, Perceptions and Factors Underlying Diet in Adolescent Girls in Rural Communities in Nigeria" Nutrients 16, no. 2: 204. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16020204
APA StyleSosanya, M. E., Freeland-Graves, J. H., Gbemileke, A. O., Adesanya, O. D., Akinyemi, O. O., Ojezele, S. O., & Samuel, F. O. (2024). Why Acute Undernutrition? A Qualitative Exploration of Food Preferences, Perceptions and Factors Underlying Diet in Adolescent Girls in Rural Communities in Nigeria. Nutrients, 16(2), 204. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16020204