Barriers and Strategies of Overcoming Barriers in Healthy Nutritional Behaviors from Women's Perspective (original) (raw)
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Alexandria Science Exchange Journal An International Quarterly Journal of Science Agricultural Environments, 2012
This study was conducted to assess the level of nutritional knowledge, diet-health related beliefs and practices among 80 women chosen at random from two different socioeconomic levels. Unhealthy food habits which are considered one of the leading causes of important health and nutritional problems, knowledge about healthy and unhealthy food was also assessed by a questionnaire. Data were also recorded about education, income, percentage of monthly income spent for food, healthy and unhealthy food score, food and drink choices, obesity and the level of physical activity and exercise. Nutrition as well as healthy awareness score was measured by principal component analysis of 20 questions' responses. The survey also assessed if the studied women know the relation between bad habits, unhealthy food, under activity, and the risk of some diseases (hypertension, cancer, cardiovascular disease CVD, lack of immunity, diabetes, and obesity).
Barriers to healthy nutrition: perceptions and experiences of Iranian women
BMC Public Health, 2012
Background: A sound understanding of community perceptions and experiences regarding barriers to a healthy diet is a prerequisite for the design of effective interventions aimed at prevention of diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This study focused on exploring barriers to healthy nutrition as experienced by women participating in the Tehran Lipid Glucose Study (TLGS). Methods: A grounded theory approach was used for analyzing the participants' experiences and their perceptions regarding these barriers. Data collection was conducted through sixteen semi-structured focus group discussions, between 2008 and 2009. Participants were 102 women, aged 25-65 years, selected and recruited from the TGLS cohort. All interviews and focus group discussions were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Constant comparative analysis of the data was conducted manually according to the Strauss and Corbin analysis method. Results: The study revealed that the most important barriers to healthy nutrition were: 1) Interpersonal/cultural effects, 2) Lack of access to healthy foods, and 3) Food preferences.
Nutrients
Scientific evidence suggests that low-carbohydrate high-fat (LCHF) diets may be effective for managing non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Eat Better South Africa (EBSA) is an organization that runs LCHF nutrition education programs for women from low-income communities. Three focus group discussions (FGDs) were held with 18 women who had taken part in an EBSA program between 2015 and 2017, to explore their perceptions and to identify the facilitators and barriers they faced in implementing and sustaining dietary changes. Thematic analysis of the focus groups was conducted using NVivo 12 software. Women reported that they decided to enroll in the program because they suffered from NCDs. Most women said that the EBSA diet made them feel less hungry, more energetic and they felt that their health had improved. Most women spoke of socioeconomic challenges which made it difficult for them to follow EBSA’s recommendations, such as employment status, safety issues in the community, and lack...
Appetite, 2015
Despite women playing a pivotal role in shaping nutritional patterns in their families, it is the men whose ideas and preferences, after children, influence the selection and consumption of daily foods among Iranian families. This study focused on exploring the main barriers to healthy eating as experienced by male participants of the Tehran Lipid Glucose Study (TLGS). A grounded theory approach was used for analyzing participants' experiences and their perceptions regarding these barriers. Participants were 98 men, aged 25-65 years, selected and recruited from the TGLS cohort. Data collection was conducted through fourteen semi-structured focus group discussions, between 2008 and 2009. All interviews and focus group discussions were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Constant comparative analysis of the data was conducted manually according to the Strauss and Corbin analysis method. The most important barriers to healthy eating were: (i) Personal factors, which included two subthemes-lack of knowledge and personal taste, (ii) Communication and modeling included two subthemes-other individuals and media/advertisements; (iii) Modernization included two subthemes-nutrition transition and women's role; and (iv) Lack of access to healthy foods, which included four subthemes-Inadequate confidence, perceived risk, high cost and time limitations. Appropriate attention and prioritized policy-making to modify the socio-environmental barriers to healthy eating were explored in the current study, along with effective educational programs that could help to promote healthy eating among Iranian families.
Electronic physician, 2016
Introduction: Health and behavior are closely related subjects because disease is typically rooted in individuals' unhealthy behaviors and habits. This study aims to identify women's nutritional habits and behaviors in order to design interventions to promote nutritional literacy. Methods: This qualitative research is part of a mixed method (quantitative-qualitative) study, conducted based on content analysis. Data were collected using semistructured interviews, group discussions, and in-depth interviews with married women, aged 18-50 years, who were referred to four health care centers in Sanandaj in 2013-2014. Results: Nutritional habits and behaviors of participants were classified into two categories: representation of nutritional behavior based on consumption pattern and representation of nutritional behavior based on consumption method. For the former, eight consumption pattern subcategories were formed: meat, dairy, fast food, local foods, fruits and vegetables, soft drinks, and oils. The latter (representation of nutritional behavior based on consumption method), included two subcategories: consumption method in line with health and consumption method inconsistent with health. Conclusion: Results of this qualitative study provide a solid foundation for development and designing interventions to nutritional literacy promotion based on needs. The designed intervention to healthy nutritional behavior should be based on empowering women and providing facilitator factors of a healthy diet. While designing this study, with a holistic perspective, individual and social aspects of a healthy diet should be taken into account.
The influence of cultural and social factors on healthy lifestyle
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality and morbidity globally. Similar to other Western and Gulf countries, the incidence of cardiovascular disease and coronary artery diseases such as acute myocardial infarction is rising rapidly in Qatar. Diabetes mellitus, smoking, and hypertension are the most common risk factors causing acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and stroke. Additionally, obesity resulting from physical inactivity and unhealthy diet can lead to metabolic changes and raise the risk of heart diseases. Studies show that these health problems can be prevented and/or controlled by modifying lifestyle risk behaviours related to physical activity, diet, and smoking habits. The ultimate goal of this study was to find ways to effectively promote cardiovascular/coronary artery disease prevention and management activities among Qatari women by exploring factors affecting the ways in which Qatari women (citizen and resident Arabic women) participate in physical activities, healthy diet and smoking. An exploratory qualitative research approach using a semi-structured questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions was used in this study. Study participants included 50 Qatari women, 30 years of age and over, having a confirmed diagnosis of coronary vascular disease /coronary artery diseases. Results showed that socio-cultural factors play a key role in Qatari women’s decisions to participate in healthy lifestyles. Counselling and guidance for patients by health care providers, especially physicians, regarding smoking cessation, weight loss, and exercise should be key interventions to modify lifestyle behaviors among cardiac patients. Read More: http://www.qscience.com/doi/abs/10.5339/avi.2011.3
Assessing cardiovascular disease risk in women: a cultural approach
Journal of the National Medical Association, 2001
Cardiovascular disease among American women is affected by a number of high-risk lifestyle factors, but little is known about the perceptions of high-risk behavior among women in an inner-city population. The two purposes of this study were to identify the perceptions of an inner-city, predominantly African-American community as they pertain to a high-risk lifestyle for cardiovascular disease as well as to develop a culturally sensitive survey instrument for women. There were two components to the study. In the first, four focus groups were conducted to obtain qualitative data on women's attitudes and lifestyles regarding cardiovascular disease risk. In the second, focus group data were used to construct a survey on women's attitudes and lifestyles regarding cardiovascular disease risk that was modified using a fifth focus group and then pilot-tested with a sample of 27 women. Focus group and pilot-testing data suggest interesting differences between the behaviors and percep...
2013
Introduction: There is a misconception that cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the burden of wealthy nations, but, in fact, it is the leading cause of death and disability-adjusted life worldwide. Healthy diets are an essential factor in the prevention of CVD. However, promoting healthy diet is challenging, particularly for people with low-socioeconomic status (SES), because poverty is linked with many risk behaviours such as smoking, unhealthy eating and obesity. Multiple factors, cultural values and beliefs interact and make healthy eating very challenging. The effects of these factors in the context of low-SES populations with CVD are largely unknown. To address this gap, this study will examine the factors that affect decisions about consuming healthy diet in Pakistanis with low SES who suffer from CVD.
Nutrients, 2019
In the aftermath of nutrition transition and ever-increasing sedentarism, adolescents globally are exposed to negative health consequences. Diverse sociocultural influences play a critical role in their adoption of unhealthy dietary practices and suboptimal physical activity behaviors. Context-specific understandings of how these sociocultural influences shape adolescents’ dietary and physical activity patterns in a rural, resource-limited setting remained elusive. Aiming to address the gap, this qualitative study explored adolescents’ and mothers’ perception of broader sociocultural aspects that sculpt the food choices, eating habits and physical activity behaviors of adolescents in Matlab, Bangladesh. Six digitally-recorded focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim, translated into English and analyzed thematically. Marked taste-driven dietary preference of adolescents and its prioritization within family by the mothers, popularity of street foods, better understanding of ...