Browsing by Author "Ansong, R.S."
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Item A cross‑sectional study on the nutritional status, dietary diversity, and small fsh consumption patterns in coastal fshing communities of Ghana(Maritime Studies, 2023) Janananda, B.; Ansong, R.S.; Steiner‑Asiedu, M.Fish is readily available to fshing communities. Given the high nutritional value of fsh, these communities are expected to have better nutritional status, compared to non-fshing communities. However, this assumption is not well studied across coastal fshing communities in Ghana. Hence, this cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the nutritional status, dietary patterns, and fsh consumption of children living in coastal fshing communities in Ghana. Nutritional status of 384 randomly selected children was assessed using the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement. MUAC less than 12.5 cm was used as the cutof to identify malnourished children. Food and fsh consumption patterns were assessed using an adopted and pretested food frequency questionnaire. The fndings showed a prevalence of 0.5% wasting among surveyed children. The mean dietary diversity score (DDS) of the study participants was 4.3 ± 1.2. The mean DDS of the children of fsher mothers was less than that of the children of the female caregivers who are involved in other occupations. However, no signifcant diference was observed in the DDS across the coastal regions. Seventy eight percent of the children who participated in the study consumed an adequately diversifed diet, and more than 40 diferent small fsh species were con sumed across the four coastal regions. The average median weekly fsh intake among the children in the study sample was 213 (64–468) g. Considering that one-third of the employed respondents were fsherfolk, coupled with the availability of a great diversity of small fsh in the communities, the fndings of our study suggest that there is great potential to incorporate small fsh into strategic interventions aimed at improving nutrition, food security, and achieving economic sustainability in these communities.Item Food And Nutrition Security Situation in Ghana: Nutrition Implications For National Development(2021) Koryo-Dabrah, A.; Ansong, R.S.; Setorglo, J.; Steiner-Asiedu, M.Achieving food and nutrition security is fundamental to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) due to its strong interdependence with economic growth and development. Eradicating hunger and all forms of malnutrition (SDG 2) remain high on the global agenda and is at the forefront of high panel deliberations because poor dietary intake has long term negative consequences on individuals and economic advancement. The goal to end hunger and malnutrition can be achieved when food and nutrition insecurity is properly tackled through investment in agriculture parallel to economic and social protection programmes. In Ghana, about 1.5 million of the population are estimated to be food insecure while undernutrition, overnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies persist across the life stages. Challenges to food and nutrition security in Ghana have been identified as: poverty, climate change, rapid urbanization and population growth, gender inequalities and poor infrastructure. Poor economic growth, health, education, hygiene and environmental exploitation are implications of these challenges. Addressing these implications sets long-term foundation for the development of the nation by prioritising policies that are nutrition sensitive which directly address the complexity of malnutrition. The level of food and nutrition insecurity in Ghana can be reduced through a national commitment towards addressing the four pillars of food security coupled with programmes that bring about resilience through sustainable systems. To this end, intervention programmes have been introduced by government to reduce the poverty burden on households. These programmes are in the form of social interventions, governmental flagship projects, and research-driven agricultural interventions to improve yield that withstand the effect of climate change. This review is aimed to present the food and nutrition security situation in Ghana and emphasise the challenges that exacerbate the problem while bringing to light the nutritional implications to national development. It is hoped that the recommendations from this review will help the government in achieving food and nutrition security in Ghana.Item Knowledge and nutrition-related practices among caregivers of adolescents with sickle cell disease in the Greater Accra region of Ghana(BMC Public Health, 2023) Ohemeng, A.; Nartey, E.B.; Quaidoo, E.; Ansong, R.S.; Asiedu, M.S.Background Due to its severe adverse effect on child mortality, sickle cell disease (SCD) has been identified as a set of diseases of public health concern. The high mortality rate among children with SCD in Africa has been attributed to several factors including sub-optimal management and care. This study documented the nutrition-related knowledge and practices of caregivers of teenagers who suffer from sickle cell disease (SCD) to inform decisions on integrated management of the disease. Methods The study included caregivers (n=225) of adolescents with SCD who attended clinic at selected hospitals in Accra, Ghana. Pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was employed in the gathering of information related to general and nutrition-related knowledge about SCD, as well as data on their nutrition-related practices with regards to their children who suffer from SCD. Pearson’s Chi-square test and binary logistic regression analyses were applied to explore the relationship between caregivers’ nutrition-related knowledge and practice. Results Nutrition-related knowledge among the caregivers studied was low, with less than a third of them (29.3%) of the sample being classified as having good knowledge. Caregivers who considered nutrition care when the child experienced crises were few (21.8%), and those with low nutrition-related knowledge were less likely to do this compared with caregivers having high knowledge (OR=0.37, 95% CI=0.18, 0.78). The common nutrition actions reported were the provision of more fruits/fruit juices (36.5%) and warm fluids such as soups and teas (31.7%). More than a third of the caregivers (38.7%) admitted that they faced challenges in caring for their adolescents with SCD, particularly in the area of finance for the needed health care. Conclusion Our study findings indicate that it is important to incorporate appropriate nutrition education messages for caregivers as part of a holistic management of SCD.Item The processing, preparation, and cooking practices of small fsh among poor Ghanaian households: An exploratory qualitative study(Maritime Studies, 2023) Agyei‑Mensah, Y.O.; Ansong, R.S.; et al.Small fish are an important part of the diet in Ghana, but malnutrition rates remain high. The nutritional quality of fish consumed in Ghana may be affected by food processing and cooking practices, but the extent to which these processes are practiced among poor Ghanaian households along the coastal belt is unknown. This study explored how poor Ghanaian households process, prepare, and cook meals containing small fish. This exploratory qualitative study used Attride-Stirling thematic network analysis. Respondents were purposively sampled from fishing communities in the coastal regions of Ghana. One-on-one interviews were performed by trained field assistants, audio recorded and videotaped, and transcribed for further data analysis. The most common small fish species identified were anchovies and herrings. Anchovies were fried and eaten whole. Herrings were eaten either smoked or fresh; for fresh herring, the head, fns, and viscera were removed before boiling. Herrings were smoked with the head and viscera; however, both the head and viscera were removed before being added to boiling soup and were not consumed. Anchovies were fried for 10 min, and herrings were boiled for 15–30 min. Processing methods and further meal preparation depend on the small fish species. Nutrient composition and contribution of small fish depend on the processing method, preparation method, and what tissues are eaten. Thus, these results will be of importance for sampling schemes for food composition tables and for the calculation of nutrient intake from small fish.