Background: Overweight and obesity prevalence is rapidly rising in developing countries. The reading and understanding of nutrition information on food packages has been shown to improve food choices and instill healthy eating habits in individuals. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of food label usage and understanding among urban and rural adults in Zimbabwe and its association with demographic and socio economic factors. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 320 adults (147 urban and 173 rural) using a validated questionnaire adapted from previous similar studies. Data were analysed using SPSS-17 statistical software. Results: A high proportion (77.2%) of the respondents read food labels. Food label reading differed significantly by educational status (p<0.05), employment status (p<0.05) and locality (p<0.05). Only 40.9% of food label readers mostly understood the information on the food labels. More urban shoppers (86.1%) read food labels than their rural counterparts (66.7%). A significant number of participants (80.6%) indicated they would like to be educated on the meaning of food labels and 80.3% preferred the nutrition information on food labels to be simplified. Conclusion: The study found above average reported reading of nutrition information on food labels with partial understanding. Efforts should be made to determine how all consumers could be made to understand the nutrition information on food labels and use it effectively in decision making.

Parents have significant influence in the development of children's eating behaviour and food choices. Their knowledge and attitudes towards nutritional status play an important part in childhood growth, as parents become role models in shaping children's eating habits. The aim of this study was to assess parental knowledge and attitudes towards childhood nutritional status and evaluate the relationship between eating habits, knowledge and attitudes of parents. A cross-sectional study was conducted in five districts of Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe. A total of 241 parents of preschool children were selected using multi-stage sampling technique. Questionnaires were administered to parents who gathered at the selected primary schools in the Districts. Data was analysed using SPSS version 16 (2007) and MS Excel. Spearman's Coefficient Correlation at a 95% significance level was used to measure the strength of linear association between knowledge and attitude score as well as education level, gender and food consumption scores. Results showed that parents in Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe had a poor to moderate nutrition knowledge and understanding of the causes of overweight among preschool children. There was a significant association between education level of parents and nutrition knowledge scores attained (p = 0.028). Food consumption score was significantly associated with knowledge score (p = 0.008). Furthermore, 0.4% of the parents with good nutrition knowledge had acceptable food consumption scores. This study showed that most parents (83.4%) were knowledgeable about the concept of a balanced diet. However, this was not translated into practice as 72% of the parents had poor to borderline food consumption score. Nutrition gaps identified in this study included failure by parents to link skipping breakfast to overweight among children and that exclusive breast feeding contributes to weight reduction. Parents did not acknowledge that eating at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables is beneficial in maintaining healthy body weight and that being overweight is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus. The results further demonstrated that parents in the province require additional nutrition knowledge to help curb overweight among preschool children by giving appropriate nutritious foods.

Introduction: Recommended child-feeding practices such as exclusive breastfeeding for six months, prolonged breastfeeding and adequate complementary feeding have been proven to reduce prevalence of malnutrition. Declining socioeconomic environment may be putting children from urban poor families at risk of malnutrition due to poor feeding practices and increased risk of morbidity. Objective: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess child feeding practices and morbidity prevalence among Harare urban families living in low socieconomic districts. Methods: A health facility based cross sectional study was conducted in Harare in five clinics serving low socio economic communities from July to August 2012. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire assessing WHO indicators for infant and young child feeding (IYCF) was used to interview primary caregivers on child-feeding practices. Secondary outcomes assessed was prevalence of diarrhea, influenza, malaria, measles, fever, and cough . Data were analysed using vSPSS-21 statistical software. Results: A total of 218 infant and caregiver pairs attending growth monitoring at the clinics were enrolled in the study. Seventy-five percent of the children were below two years of age. There was a high prevalence of early introduction of complementary foods (81.4% before 6 months of age). About half (49.2%) of the infants had 4 or more meals per day. A significant proportion (74.4%) had been weaned onto family meals. Fifty-three (24%) of the children had been sick with diarrhea, 59% influenza , 1% malaria , 1% measles, 23% fever and 53% with a cough during the 1 month recall period. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of inadequate infant feeding practices and morbidity in low resource communities in Harare. There is need to design child-feeding interventions for the urban community targeting all family members involved in decision-making.