Masters Degrees (Human Nutrition)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Human Nutrition) by browse.metadata.advisor "Beukes, Ronel Annamarie"

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    Food utilisation in the national school nutrition programme at Quintile 1-3 Schools in the Cape Metro Districts of the Western Cape Province, South Africa : a descriptive cross-sectional study
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-04) Petersen, Ilse; Beukes, Ronel Annamarie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Global Health. Human Nutrition.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: Introduction: The National Schools Nutrition Programme (NSNP) was implemented in 1994 with the aim to improve educational outcomes through relieving acute hunger relief, and to improve school attendance and learning capacity. The overlooked element of food wastage at school level could be an obstacle to achieve this. Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the enablers and barriers to food utilisation in the NSNP at Quintile 1-3 schools in the metro districts of the Western Cape Province. The objectives were to determine the feasibility as well as the attitudes of volunteer food handlers (VFHs) towards implementing potential interventions to address the causes of food wastage in the NSNP at Quintile 1-3 schools in the metro districts of the Western Cape. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used to obtain data to determine the enablers and barriers to food utilisation and the attitude of the VFHs through descriptive analyses. A questionnaire was designed to obtain the perceptions from the VFHs. After approval had been received from the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), a list of schools in the four districts was used to stratify schools across districts and quintiles. The questionnaires, a letter to the school explaining the study, and consent forms were emailed to schools. Participants were requested to return the completed forms via email. Data were captured and analysed by means of Microsoft Excel with the help of a statistician. Descriptive statistics in the form of frequency (%) and pivot tables were used to describe the situation of potential causes of food wastage. A Chi-square test was conducted to examine if there was a relationship between the VFHs’ experience in food service and statements made regarding their perceived perception of learners relating to the food served as well as their own perception of food wastage. Results: Of the final study sample of 48 participants, 56.25% were isiXhosa-speaking, 95.83% women, aged from 35 to 44 with 58.33% with less than a high school certificate, while 27 participants (57.45%) had not worked in food service before but 27 (54.17%) had been VFHs for up to five years. Enablers for food utilisation were identified as sufficient refrigeration, alternate uses for food wastage, and meals served warm, at the same time every day. Twenty-three (47.92%) of the 48 participants said there was not enough working refrigeration to store all fresh food and 31 (64.58%) participants said the expired food was thrown away. The utilisation of food by the VFHs have indicated the possible barriers for food utilisation included insufficient refrigeration, throwing away food, type of food served, and portion size of meals. Conclusions: As suggested by the results, it is possible that food wastage exists. The low response rate of participants resulted in a limited ability to answer the research question. Food utilisation in relation to the prevalence of potential causes of food wastage at schools that implement the NSNP could not be compared between Quintile 1-3 schools. However, the study did create a premise for future studies to determine this.
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    Promoting traditional and indigenous foods in South Africa : a desktop review
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12) Bobo, Zizo Nangamso; Beukes, Ronel Annamarie; Sigge, G. O.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Global Health. Human Nutrition.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : INTRODUCTION: One of the most pressing issues confronting South Africa is ensuring access to sufficient, nutritious, and affordable food that is produced in a sustainable manner. However, a significant proportion of the diverse foods available in our environment have been overlooked in favour of a few commercial staple foods, resulting in a food supply that is too limited. Growing population rates, urbanization, and persistently rising food prices have resulted in a shift in dietary patterns from more traditional to more westernized diets, where healthier food options have become a luxury and highly processed and refined convenience foods are marketed as less expensive options, all of which are contributing to the emergence of a nutrition crisis in SA. This has resulted in the displacement of traditional and indigenous food crops (TIF), as well as a change in the diet of South Africans. Current dietary patterns reflect an increased intake of a small number of domesticated plant staples, while the intake of TIF, which once sustained health and nutritional status, has decreased significantly. The goal of this study is to conduct a literature evaluation on the promotion of TIF in South Africa. METHODOLOGY: This review was conducted using a systematic search of current academic literature from the following databases: Science Direct, Jstor, EBcohost, Bio-med and PubMed, and Google scholar. Abstract, title, keywords, and subject headings specific to each of the identified databases were searched. The review included studies with both analytical and descriptive study designs. RESULTS: Of the 26699 titles and abstracts screened 103 were potentially eligible. The review included five studies that included TIF as part of the intervention strategy after examination of full texts. Of the total 5 studies included in the review, 2 were cross-sectional studies, 2 were randomized control trials and 1 was a pre-test post-test control group design. All of the studies were based in rural communities. All the interventions had children, ages 1-12 years, as the primary benefactors. The studies included in this review have indicated the promotion and consumption of TIFs resulted in improved nutritional status, particularly vitamin A, zinc, and iron status. The inclusion and promotion of TIF in nutrition messages can significantly improve diet quality and ensure dietary diversification. This is attributed to the various components that form part of successful community-based interventions. CONCLUSION: The five studies discussed in the review are generally acknowledged to be successful in their own right. They have shown that the promotion, production and consumption of TIF in conjunction with nutrition messages and health-based caring practices does improve household food and nutrition security, particularly in vulnerable groups.