Proper breastfeeding practices are effective ways for reducing childhood morbidity and mortality. While many mothers understand the importance of breastfeeding, others are less knowledgeable on the benefits of breastfeeding and weaning. The aim in here is to assess breastfeeding pattern, infant formula feeding pattern, and weaning introduction in Mauritius and to investigate the factors that influence infant nutrition. 500 mothers were interviewed using a questionnaire which was designed to elicit information on infant feeding practices. Statistical analyses were done using SPSS (version 13.0), whereby chi-square tests were used to evaluate relationships between different selected variables. The prevalence of breastfeeding practice in Mauritius has risen from 72% in 1991 to 93.4% as found in this study, while only 17.9% breastfed their children exclusively for the first 6 months, and the mean duration of EBF (exclusive breastfeeding) is 2.10 months. Complementary feeding was more commonly initiated around 4–6 months (75.2%). Despite the fact that 60.6% of mothers initiate breastfeeding and 26.1% of mothers are found to breastfeed up to 2 years, the practice of EBF for the first 6 months is low (17.9%). Factors found to influence infant feeding practices are type of delivery, parity, alcohol consumption, occupation, education, and breast problems.
PurposeFruits and vegetables intake (FVI) in the human diet is strongly related to health status and incidence of diseases. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that demographic factors and food insecurity could be associated with the frequency of FVI in a multicultural community such as Mauritius.Design/methodology/approachInformation pertaining to socio‐demographic factors, anthropometric measurements, medical history, lifestyle factors, reason(s) for dietary choice and food insecurity factors were amassed randomly from 374 adults.FindingsThe mean FVI was found to be significantly lower (p<0.05) for the food insecure respondents (n=39). Also, significant (p<0.05) associations between FVI and the level of education (p=0.031 and p=0.012, respectively), ethnic groups (p=0.028 and p=0.013, respectively), income ranges (p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively), and food insecurity (p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively) were noted. A high income was also significantly related to a higher FVI. With respect to disease occurrence, a significant (p=0.035) relationship was found with respect to FVI and respiratory diseases.Originality/valueThe paper shows that there is a pressing need to re‐evaluate efficiency of existing nutrition policies and programs. Also that it is important to establish more sensitization campaigns geared towards the above‐mentioned target groups with respect to FVI. Authorities concerned should also endeavour to achieve affordable, accessible and safe fruits and vegetables as a mean to promote a healthy eating culture in Mauritius.
There is currently a dearth of information pertaining to socio-demographic factors and eating practices in a multicultural country like Mauritius. This study was therefore undertaken to probe the different eating practices among an adult sample population in Mauritius in an endeavor to establish significant relationships, if any, with common socio-demographic and socio-economic factors. A self-designed questionnaire, (randomly distributed to n = 387 adults), pertaining to socio-demographic variables, vegetarianism, breakfast patterns, eating out of home meals (OHMs), food frequency questions and dieting practices were asked. Males (21 -40 yrs) had a significantly (p < 0.05) higher consumption of OHM at lunch. Higher mean frequencies of consuming OHMs were found amid specific groups (e.g. amongst professionals as compared to each of manual workers, unemployed, retired and self-employed) which also depicted significantly lower percentages of adhesion to the WHO recommended daily intake of vegetables. Oily foods were frequently consumed by males (41 -60 yrs) whereas none of the socio-demographic factors assessed revealed a significant relationship (p > 0.05) to adherence to the recommendations for the consumption of fish. The socio-demographic factors most influential towards eating practices were gender, age and socio-economic status represented by education and occupation. In conclusion, relationships recorded in the present study were comparable to Western eating practices and the availability of certain foods has compelled Mauritians to develop its own and unique eating patterns which can be of relevance in providing accurate health targets for future nutrition interventions in Mauritius.
INTRODUCTION Mauritius has one of the highest rates of smoking in Africa. Smoking cessation is a priority for preventing tobacco-related morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study is to identify the predictors of quit intentions among smokers in Mauritius in order to strengthen tobacco control policies and inform the development and delivery of services that may increase the likelihood of successful quitting. METHODS Data were drawn from Wave 1 (2009) of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Mauritius Survey, a face-to-face cohort survey of a nationally representative sample of 598 adult smokers who were randomly selected from nine geographic districts in Mauritius using a multistage sampling procedure. RESULTS The vast majority of smokers (77.8%) had plans to quit smoking. Longer duration of past quit attempts (6 months or less), perceiving benefits of quitting, worrying about smoking damaging health in the future, and not enjoying smoking were significantly associated with quit intentions. However, socio-demographic characteristics, past quit attempts, overall attitude about smoking, and Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI) were not associated with quit intentions. CONCLUSIONS The predictors of quit intentions among Mauritian smokers were generally similar to those found among smokers in other high-and middle-income countries. However, in contrast to findings in those other countries, nicotine dependence as measured by the HSI was not a significant predictor of quit intentions among Mauritian smokers. These findings highlight the need to consider the predictors of quit intentions when developing and delivering smoking cessation support services in Mauritius.
The aging population (60 years and above) is becoming a global phenomenon and so is in Mauritius and over the last 4 years there has been an increase of 20.4%. There is an inadequate nutrition-related data among the older adults in Mauritius and in addition the factors influencing eating habits warrant investigation. This study aimed to understand how socioeconomic factors (income level and employment status), physical activity level, body mass index, nutritional knowledge is associated with eating habits of pre-retired and post-retired Mauritians. A survey based questionnaire was used to elicit information of the various factors. Chi square test, Independent sample t-test, One-way variance analysis and Pearson correlation were the main statistical tests used to determine relationship between eating habits and the different factors. Healthy food items were more frequently consumed by high income earners as compared to low income earners. Similarly, post-retired participants and those having high physical activity level consumed healthy food items more frequently. Low physical activity level was associated with high consumption rate of fast food and low intake of fruits and vegetables. There was also positive influence of nutritional knowledge on eating habits. Income level, employment status, physical activity level and nutritional knowledge have a great impact on the eating habits whereas no relation was found between eating habits and body mass index.
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