Fruit and vegetable consumption and serum vitamin A in lactating women: A cross‐sectional survey in urban China

Yang, Chenlu; Zhao, Aihua; Lan, Hanglian; Zhang, Jian; Ren, Zhiguo; Szeto, Ignatius Man‐Yau; Wang, Peiyu; Zhang, Yumei

doi:10.1002/fsn3.2532

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Inadequate dietary quantity and quality result in deficiencies of essential nutrients, particularly during pregnancy and lactation ( 17 ). In China, inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables was associated with low levels of serum vitamin A among lactating women ( 18 ). In Ethiopia, more than 70% of pregnant women had low dietary diversity scores and low consumption of animal sourced foods ( 19 ) and 60% of lactating women had inadequate consumption of vitamin A rich foods ( 20 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of vitamin A rich food consumption among women living in households growing orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes in selected regions in Uganda

Nankumbi

Sibeko

Mercado

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

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ObjectiveVitamin A deficiency (VAD) has serious public health consequences including morbidity and mortality for populations in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially for children under 5 years and pregnant women. LMICs are at greater risk of VAD, in part due to low levels of consumption of vitamin A-rich foods most of which are plant-based, such as orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP), with lower bioavailability than animal sources of the vitamin A. Food-based approaches such as biofortification of OFSP, including promoting the consumption of vitamin A-rich biofortified staple crops, has been shown to be potentially effective in improving the status of vitamin A and other micronutrients. This study examined vitamin A-rich food consumption and its predictors among women of reproductive age from OFSP-growing households in two regions of Uganda.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among 617 OFSP growing households, focusing on women in the reproductive age group from the northern and eastern regions of Uganda. Households were not receiving any VAD-related intervention at the time of the survey. Quantitative data included vitamin A-rich food consumption, knowledge on vitamin A, and rich food sources dietary intake, using a 7-day food frequency questionnaire. Vitamin A consumption and risk of deficiency were estimated using the Hellen Keller International guide.ResultsThe majority of women in this study were either pregnant (80%) or lactating (17%). More than 70% of the study population had a weighted vitamin A rich food consumption mean score of <6 days per week, indicating a high risk of VAD. Knowledge about vitamin A [b (SE) = −0.18 (0.50), p < 0.001] was significantly and inversely associated with vitamin A rich food consumption.ConclusionComponents of food insecurity such as availability, affordability, utilization, and changing food preferences may contribute to the unexpected inverse relationship between knowledge and consumption of vitamin A rich foods. Scaling up biofortified food initiatives, including OFSP, can improve consumption of vitamin A rich foods with effective strategies to comprehensively address consumption barriers such as lack of nutrition education, cooking skills, and storage facilities, as well as low production levels and perceived contamination of biofortified foods.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of vitamin A rich food consumption among women living in households growing orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes in selected regions in Uganda

Nankumbi

Sibeko

Mercado

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

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Barriers to consumption of fruits and vegetables and strategies to overcome them in low- and middle-income countries: a narrative review

Kaur

2022

Nutr. Res. Rev.

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This review provides an overview of the barriers to fruits and vegetables (FVs) consumption as well as strategies to improve FVs intake in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). The importance of FVs consumption and its role in disease prevention have been discussed briefly. Trends in FVs consumption in LMICs are also summarised. WHO recommends that every individual should consume at least five servings or 400g of FVs per day. Epidemiological and clinical investigations have demonstrated that FVs contain numerous bioactive compounds with health-protecting activities. Despite the health benefits, FVs intake in LMICs remains low. Major barriers identified were socio-demographic factors, environmental conditions, individual and cultural factors, and macrosystem influences. These barriers may be lowered at the household, school, community, and national level through multi-component interventions including behaviour change communication (BCC) initiatives, nutrition education (NE), gardening initiatives, farm to institution programs (FIPs), food baskets, cash transfers, nutrition-agriculture policy and program linkages, and food-market environment based strategies. This review has research implications due to the positive outcomes of strategies that lower barriers and boost promoters of FVs consumption in LMICs.

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Fruit and vegetable consumption and serum vitamin A in lactating women: A cross‐sectional survey in urban China

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 2 publications

References 62 publications

Predictors of vitamin A rich food consumption among women living in households growing orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes in selected regions in Uganda

Predictors of vitamin A rich food consumption among women living in households growing orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes in selected regions in Uganda

Barriers to consumption of fruits and vegetables and strategies to overcome them in low- and middle-income countries: a narrative review

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