| 1. |
- Dapi N., Léonie, 1971-
(författare)
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Socioeconomic and sex differences in adolescents’ dietary intake, anthropometry and physical activity in Cameroon, Africa
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: People in Cameroon are experiencing a dietary transition characterized by changing from traditional food habits to increased intake of highly processed sweet and fatty food. The rapid change in food pattern combined with an increased sedentary lifestyle has resulted in a rather high prevalence of obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Nutritional intake is important during adolescence for growth spurt, health, cognitive development and performance in school. Objective: The aim of this thesis was to assess dietary intake, anthropometry and physical activity of adolescents according to sex and socioeconomic status (SES) and to investigate food perceptions of adolescents living in urban and rural areas of Cameroon. Methods: Girls and boys, 12-16 years of age, were randomly selected from schools in urban and rural areas. Food frequency questionnaire, 24-hour dietary and physical activity recalls, anthropometric measurements, qualitative interviews and a background questionnaire were used for data collection. Results: The proportion of overweight was three times higher in girls (14%) compared to boys (4%). Stunting and underweight were more common among boys (15% and 6%) than girls (5% and 1%). The prevalence of stunting was two times higher among the urban adolescents with low SES (12%) compared to those with high SES (5%). The rural adolescents had the highest proportion of stunting but more muscle that the urban adolescents. The rural adolescents ate in order to live and to maintain health. Urban adolescents with low SES ate in order to maintain health, while those with high SES ate for pleasure. More than 30% of the adolescents skipped breakfast in the urban area. Urban adolescents with high SES and girls reported a more frequent consumption of in-between meals and most food groups compared to the rural adolescents, boys and those with low SES. Over 55% of the adolescents had a protein intake below 10% of the energy (E%). Twenty-six percent of the adolescents had fat intake below 25 E%, and 25% had fat intake above 35 E%. A large proportion of the adolescents had an intake of micronutrients below the estimated average recommendation. Boys and the adolescents with low SES reported a higher energy expenditure and physical activity level than girls and the adolescents with high SES, respectively. Both under- and over-reporting of energy intake were common among the adolescents. Conclusions: The present study showed that nutrient inadequacy, stunting, underweight, as well as overweight and obesity were common among the adolescents in Cameroon. Therefore an intervention program targeting both under- and overnutrition among school adolescents is needed. Sex and socioeconomic differences also need to be considered.
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| 2. |
- Bohm, Ingela, et al.
(författare)
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"Can we add a little sugar?" : The contradictory discourses around sweet foods in Swedish home economics
- 2023
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Ingår i: Pedagogy, Culture & Society. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 1468-1366 .- 1747-5104.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sweet foods occupy an ambiguous position in many people’s diets, perhaps especially for children and adolescents. The twin expectation that they both covet and limit their intake can create a dilemma not only in the home, but also in the school subject Home Economics (HE), which among other themes has a focus on food and health. In this study, we explored how Discourses on sweet foods were formed, reproduced, and challenged during 26 lessons in northern Sweden. Overall, sweet foods were constructed as desirable but also as unhealthy, disgusting, and unnecessary. They were used as a form of capital where ownership, distribution, and fairness were important, and students could mark friendships by sharing and gifting. Conversely, they could also use sweet foods to police, ridicule, question, or punish each other. Conflicts could arise around less-than-perfect results and students could withhold sweet foods from each other as a form of social rejection. Vague limits to intake placed responsibility for intake on the students themselves. We suggest that a contextualisation of the social, cultural, and health aspects of sweet foods in HE might help students acquire a more holistic Discourse of sweet foods and mitigate their social weaponisation.
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| 3. |
- Bohm, Ingela, et al.
(författare)
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“You’re a sugar addict!” : Sweetness and Health in Home and Consumer Studies
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Because of possible contradictions between physical and psychosocial health, sweet foods can create social tension in home economics. To explore this tension, we observed 59 students and five teachers during 26 lessons. Discourse analysis of naturally occurring talk indicated four big ‘D’ Discourses about sweet foods, namely the coveted treasure, the superiority of the homemade, danger/disgust and the unnecessary extra. The treasure Discourse could spark conflict because of demands on extreme fairness or perfect results. It could also be used to mark both good and bad relationships. The unnecessary extra, home-made and danger/disgust Discourses could be used to stigmatize others and mark superiority. There was also a risk of demonizing sweet foods without offering realistic alternatives. To avoid this, teachers can a) tone down the focus on results, b) make sure students share their sweet foods with everyone, c) balance the negative aspects of simple carbohydrates with a more holistic, psychosocial view of the role of sugar in the human diet, and d) give the students concrete tools to create healthy snacks.
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| 4. |
- Lindblom, Cecilia, 1979-
(författare)
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Skolämnet Hem- och konsumentkunskap på 2000-talet : förutsättningar för elevers möjlighet till måluppfyllelse
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background People are faced with a variety of consumer choices every day. If they do not have adequate and appropriate knowledge their choices create a greater risk of negative effects for the environment and the economy, and also for the individual's personal health and economic circumstances. Home and Consumer Studies (HC-studies) provides school pupils with educational opportunities on which to base their choice decisions.Aim The overall aim of this thesis is to describe and analyze the impact of frame factors such as, for example, teachers’ qualifications, classrooms, lesson time, interdisciplinary work and group work on the educational experience, focusing on pupils' opportunities for goal achievement in an HC-studies context.Methods Two different methods were used to obtain data, 1) surveys and 2) classroom observations. One nationwide survey were sent out in 2010 to people working with HC-studies (N=385) and two surveys were sent out in 2014, one to people working with the five subjects HC-studies, Physical Education and Health, Chemistry, Physics and Biology (n=388), and one to head teachers (N=216). All three surveys involved municipal and independent schools. The observations were carried out in four different schools in grades 5, 8 and 9, when pupils worked in the kitchen units and were made using video and audio recording. In total, 44 pupils participated.Results The surveys showed that the HC-studies teacher qualifications were higher in municipality schools compared to independent schools (86% vs 39%). Classrooms with 4 – 10 kitchen units were more common in the municipality schools than independent schools (94% vs 71%). Among teachers in the five subjects HC-studies, Physical Education and Health, Chemistry, Physics and Biology, as well as Head teachers, about half stated that the school they worked in, or had the responsibility for, used interdisciplinary teaching in the area of nutrition and health. Regarding barriers to interdisciplinary teaching, teachers and head teachers both considered a lack of planning time and scheduling to be the biggest problems.Video and audio recordings showed that lesson time, in combination with the amount of content to be delivered during the lesson, led to stressed and insecure pupils, and both teachers and pupils seemed to have a strong focus on the end result; the meal. Some pupils used a variety of strategies to change the cooking in order to have more chance of completing the process on time. Four different ways in which pupils worked together in the kitchen units emerged: 1) integrated, 2) expert, 3) divided, and 4) parallel group work. Integrated group work seemed to provide opportunities for learning because pupils communicated with each other, discussed how they would divide the cooking within the group, who should do what and how they would work so that everyone could take part in the cooking. The other three types of groups did not seem conductive to learning. Many pupils in these groups did not communicate and were not able to show their skills and creativity. It also emerged that, if they got the chance, pupils chose tasks about which they already had some knowledge.Conclusions This thesis highlights various conditions shaping pupil opportunity to reach goals in the subject. The study raises many questions about the extent to which pupils around the country have the same opportunity to reach goals in the HC-studies syllabus.
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| 5. |
- Öhlund, Inger, 1954-
(författare)
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Health implications of dietary intake in infancy and early childhood
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Introduction: Swedish children are the healthiest in Europe. Through regular visits to well-baby clinics, infants and young children are checked and parents given information and advice on diet and other relevant matters for their child. For a long time, adequate nutrition during infancy and childhood has been focused on encouraging proper nutrition, preventing malnutrition and deficiency states, and obtaining optimal growth. Today, malnutrition and deficiency states in infants and children are rare. But other public health problems have arisen. Nutrition early in life is now thought to influence health and diseases even in adulthood. Thus promotion of a healthy diet in early life is important for preventing public health diseases such as iron deficiency, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and dental caries. Aims: This study investigates health implications of dietary intake in infancy and early childhood. More specific focus was on the associations between dietary fat intake and serum lipid levels in infants, early dietary intake, iron status, dental caries, and Body Mass Index (BMI) at 4 years of age. In addition, hereditary factors and changes over time were evaluated. Methods: Before 6 month of age, 300 healthy infants were recruited from well-baby clinics in Umeå. This thesis is based on secondary analysis of a prospective study in these infants run from 6-18 months and a follow-up of 127 of the children at 4 years. Between 6-18 months and at 4 years, dietary intakes were assessed, anthropometric measures performed, and venous blood samples taken. At 4 years, a dental examination was also performed and anthropometric data and blood samples were collected from parents and included in the study. Results: All but two infants were ever breastfed and at 6 months 73% were still breastfed. The quality of dietary fat was not within national recommendations. At 4 years, intake of vitamin D and selenium were below and intake of sugar and sweet products above the recommendations. In girls, but not boys, higher polyunsaturated fatty acid intake was associated with lower levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B levels. Iron status of the children was generally good and no child had iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). Children’s haemoglobin (Hb) levels tracked from infancy to 4 years and correlated with their mother’s Hb. Fortified infant products and meat were important sources of iron at both 12 months and 4 years. Children with frequent intake of cheese had less caries in this population with low caries prevalence. We found higher protein intake over time to be associated with higher Body Mass Index (BMI) at 4 years and high BMI at 4 years was associated with high BMI at 6 mo. There was also an association between the BMI of the child and that of its parents. Conclusions: BMI of the child and parents (especially the father), and iron status at 6 months were predictors of these variables at 4 years of age. The quality rather than the quantity of dietary fat in infancy affected serum lipid values. Even in a healthy and well-nourished group of Swedish infants and young children, quality of food and intake of nutrients are important for current and later health of the child.
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| 6. |
- Berggren, Linda, et al.
(författare)
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The lived experiences of school lunch : an empathy-based study with children in Sweden
- 2020
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Ingår i: Children's Geographies. - : Routledge. - 1473-3285 .- 1473-3277. ; 18:3, s. 339-350
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- School lunch is in general regulated through policies and agendas constituted by the perspectives of adults. In this article, we focus on children’s lived experiences of school lunch with a special emphasis on emotions and how they relate to social and physical dimensions. This study draws on empathy-based stories written by 10–11 year olds (n = 171) from schools in Sweden. We identified three themes: Interaction and exposure, Routines and restrictions and Food and eating. The children’s lived experiences of school lunch and the emotions attached to them are closely associated and intertwined with the socio-spatial dimension of school lunch. A pleasant meal experience seems to require harmonization between the physical and social space whilst negative experiences contain tensions between them, something that actors working with school lunch and school lunch environments should take in consideration when resourcing, planning and scheduling school lunch, and also when designing new school restaurants.
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| 7. |
- Bohm, Ingela, 1975-
(författare)
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"We're made of meat, so why should we eat vegetables?" : food discourses in the school subject home and consumer studies
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Food has many different functions. On a physical level, it is needed to survive and to maintain health, but it also has many social, psychological, and emotional meanings. For example, food is used to build relationships, to mark hierarchies, to celebrate holidays, and to influence mood and self-image. Different foods have different cultural meanings, and people are socialized from an early age to recognize and utilize their symbolic value.One arena where food occupies a central position is the Swedish school subject Home and Consumer Studies (HCS), which focuses on both the physical and the psychosocial dimensions of food-related health. Since these dimensions are not always compatible, the aim of this dissertation was to explore how students and teachers of HCS use big 'D' Discourses to talk about and handle food, with a special focus on vegetables, meat, vegetarian food, and sweet foods.Methods: Fifty-nine students and five teachers were observed, recorded, and in some cases video-taped. Participants’ talk about vegetables, meat, vegetarian food, and sweet foods was transcribed verbatim and analysed for big 'D' Discourses.Results: Students mostly based their choice of vegetables on sensory and cultural Discourses. Some vegetables were mandatory and others were optional, depending on whether or not they were part of a recipe or a cultural tradition. The health Discourse was only used if a specific assignment demanded it, and was closely tied to the evaluation Discourse.Contrary to the sometimes optional status of vegetables, meat was seen as central in the sensory, cultural, health, and social Discourses. Therefore the reduction of meat could be problematic. It was regarded as simultaneously healthy and unhealthy, and it could elicit disgust, but whenever participants talked about decreasing meat consumption, its centrality was invoked as a counterargument.As an extension of this, vegetarian food was seen as 'empty', deviant, and an unattainable ideal. Access to vegetarian food was limited for meat-eaters, and vegetarians were othered in both positive and negative ways. When vegetarian food was cooked during lessons, it was constructed as something out of the ordinary.Sweet foods could be viewed as a treasure, as something dangerous and disgusting, or as an unnecessary extra. Home-made varieties were seen as superior. Sweet foods gave social status to both students and teachers, and they could be traded or given away to mark relationships and hierarchies, but also withheld and used to police others.Conclusion: In summary, two powerful potential opposites met in the HCS classroom: the Discourses of normality (sensory, cultural, and social Discourses), and the Discourses of responsibility (health and evaluation). Normality could make physically healthy food choices difficult because of participants' social identity, the conflicted health Discourse, and too-strict ideals. On the other hand, some people were excluded from normality itself, notably vegetarians, who were seen as deviant eaters, and teachers, who had to balance state-regulated goals in HCS against local norms.To counteract such problems, teachers can 1) focus on sensory experiences, experimental cooking methods, and already popular foods, 2) challenge normality by the way they speak about and handle different types of food, 3) make cooking and eating more communal and socially inclusive, 4) explore the psychosocial dimension of health on the same level as the physical dimension, and 5) make sure they do not grade students' cultural backgrounds, social identities, or taste preferences. This might go some way towards empowering students to make informed choices about food and health. However, scant resources of things like time, money, and equipment limit what can be achieved in the subject.
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| 8. |
- Dapi Nzefa, Léonie, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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After giving birth to a baby, breastfeeding becomes your responsibility : Infant feeding perceptions and practices among women in Yaoundé, Bamenda and Bandja, Cameroon, Africa
- 2018
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Ingår i: International Research Journal of Public and Environmental Health. - : Journal Issues Limited. - 2360-8803 .- 2360-8803. ; 5:3, s. 38-45
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Ministry of Public Health of Cameroon advises mothers to follow the World Health Organization’s recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life and to continue breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years or beyond. Despite these recommendations, malnutrition due to inadequate feeding practices is still prevalent in Cameroon. Therefore, this study aims to explore infant feeding perceptions and identify factors influencing infant feeding practices in Cameroon. Forty-nine women aged 19 to 38 who had infants aged 6 days to 15 months were purposively selected from hospitals during the vaccination days and interviewed until saturation. The research tools included six qualitative group interviews, with each group comprising 6 to 10 women. The study was conducted in the rural area of Bandja and the urban areas of Yaoundé and Bamenda. Data were analysed using content analysis. In the study, breastfeeding was agreed upon as the best way to feed infants and was commonly practised for 1 to 2 years. Nevertheless, few infants were breastfed exclusively. Complementary foods were often nutritionally inadequate; many children were not given fruit, vegetables or foods of animal origin on a daily basis. Cultural beliefs, tradition, community norms and low educational and economic levels negatively influenced the implementation of appropriate infant feeding recommendations. The short duration of exclusive breastfeeding and the poor food diversity are the main problems. In response, it is necessary to strengthen the position of women, increase the period of maternal leave, introduce sustainable and practical education for both parents about breastfeeding, and provide good, local complementary foods.
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| 9. |
- Huseinovic, Ena, et al.
(författare)
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Changes in food intake patterns during 2000-2007 and 2008-2016 in the population-based Northern Sweden Diet Database
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nutrition Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1475-2891. ; 18
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundFood intake patterns provide a summary of dietary intake. Few studies have examined trends in food intake patterns over time in large, population-based studies. We examined food intake patterns and related sociodemographic and individual characteristics in the large Northern Sweden Diet Database during the two time windows 2000-2007 and 2008-2016.MethodsIn total, 100 507 participants (51% women) who had filled in a 64-item food frequency questionnaire and provided background and sociodemographic data between 2000 and 2016 were included. Food intake patterns were evaluated for women and men separately for the two time windows 2000-2007 and 2008-2016, respectively. Latent class analysis was used to identify distinct, latent clusters based on 40 food groups.ResultsAmong both women and men, a greater proportion of participants were classified into food intake patterns characterized by high-fat spread and high-fat dairy during 2008-2016 compared to 2000-2007. In the earlier time window, these high-fat clusters were related to lower educational level and smoking. Simultaneously, the proportion of women and men classified into a cluster characterized by high intake of fruit, vegetables, and fibre decreased from the earlier to the later time window.ConclusionFrom a public health perspective, the increase in clusters with a high conditional mean for high-fat spread and high-fat dairy and decrease in clusters with a high conditional mean for fruit and vegetables, during the time period 2008-2016 compared to 2000-2007, is worrisome as it indicates a shift away from the recommended food habits. Subgroups of women and men with less healthy dietary patterns in the time window 2008-2016 with lower education, lower age, higher body mass index, lower levels of physical activity and more smoking were identified and future interventions may be targeted towards these groups.
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| 10. |
- Hörnell, Agneta, Professor, 1964-, et al.
(författare)
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Infant feeding : a scoping review for Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023
- 2024
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Ingår i: Food & Nutrition Research. - : Swedish Nutrition Foundation. - 1654-6628 .- 1654-661X. ; 68
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The 2012 edition of the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNR) included recommendations on breastfeeding, based on the most recent guidelines and recommendations from major national food and health authorities and organizations, systematic reviews, and some original research. For NNR 2023, the scope has been expanded and also includes formula feeding and the introduction of solid food. The main focus in this scoping review is on infants aged 0-12 months but also considers parts both before and beyond the first year, as the concept of 'the first 1000 days' emphasizes the importance of factors during pregnancy and the first 2 years of life for immediate and later health: physical as well as emotional and mental health. Breastmilk is the natural and sustainable way to feed an infant during the first months of life. Numerous studies have indicated immediate as well as long-term beneficial effects of breastfeeding on health for both the infant and the breastfeeding mother, and from a public health perspective, it is therefore important to protect, support, and promote breastfeeding. For full-term, normal weight infants, breastmilk is sufficient as the only form of nutrition for the first 6 months, except for vitamin D that needs to be given as supplement. The World Health Organization (WHO) and several other authoritative bodies therefore recommend exclusive breastfeeding during the first 6 months. Starting solids at about 6 months is necessary for both nutritional and developmental reasons. According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (ESPGHAN), solid foods are safe to give from 4 months although exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months is the desirable goal. Breastfeeding can continue together with complementary foods as long as it is mutually desired by the mother and child. If breastfeeding is not enough or for some reason discontinued before the infant is 4 months of age, the infant should be fed infant formula, and, when possible, breastfeeding should be continued alongside the formula feeding. If the infant is 4 months or older, starting with solids together with continued breastfeeding and/or formula feeding is an option. Infant formulas have been developed for infants who are not breastfed or do not get enough breastmilk. Home-made formula should not be given.
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