Browsing by Author "Otoo, G."
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Item Dietary Practices and Nutritional Status of Adolescent Girls in Ko Senior High Boarding School in Theupper West Region(University of Ghana, 2014-07) Aganah, C.A.; Colecraft, E.; Otoo, G.; University of Ghana, College of Basic and Applied Sciences School of Biological Sciences Department of Nutrition and Food ScienceBackground: Adolescence is an important growth and development life stage which has implications for future nutritional status and food consumption habits. School meals may offer an opportunity to enhance dietary intakes and nutritional status of adolescent girls in boarding school settings. However, there is limited information on the nutritional quality of school meals, dietary habits and nutritional status of adolescent girls in senior high boarding schools in Ghana. Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the dietary practices and nutritional status of adolescent girls in Ko Senior High Boarding School. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey of 180 adolescent school girls was used in this study. Semi-structured questionnaire was used to solicit information on the girls‟ socio-demographic characteristics and dietary practices. The 24-hour recall method was used to obtain information on dietary intakes on 2 non-consecutive days. Additionally the weighed food method was used to ascertain weights of foods consumed daily from the school dining hall by a random sample of the girl over a two weeks period. The girls‟ height and weight measurements were also taken. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and regression analysis were used to summarize the data and to assess for factors associated with the girls‟ dietary practices and nutritional status. Results: Meal skipping, particularly breakfast was observed as the main unhealthy eating habit among adolescent girls in Ko Senior High Boarding School. Niacin, folate, riboflavin, calcium, vitamin B12 and vitamin D intakes were found to be below the recommended dietary reference intakes (EAR). The prevalence of stunting, thinness or low BMI for age and overweight as observed among the girls were 2.2%, 1.2% and 16.1% respectively. Conclusion: The Mean % contribution of school meals and other food sources to the total daily nutrient intakes of adolescent girls in Ko Senior High Boarding School was reported in this study to be 56.2 and 43.8 respectively. Following this, the quantity and quality of school meals served to the girls needs to be reviewed by school authorities to increase its contribution to daily nutrient intakes.Item Improving complementary feeding in Ghana: Reaching the vulnerable through innovative business-the case of KOKO Plus(Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2014-12) Ghosh, S.; Tano-Debrah, K.; Aaron, G.J.; Otoo, G.; Strutt, N.; Bomfeh, K.; Kitamura, S.; Suri, D.J.; Murakami, H.; Furuta, C.; Sarpong, D.; Saalia, F.; Nakao, Y.; Amonoo-Kuofi, H.; Uauy, R.; Toride, Y.Reaching vulnerable populations in low-resource settings with effective business solutions is critical, given the global nature of food and nutrition security. Over a third of deaths of children under 5 years of age are directly or indirectly caused by undernutrition. The Lancet series on malnutrition (2013) estimates that over 220,000 lives of children under 5 years of age can be saved through the implementation of an infant and young child feeding and care package. A unique project being undertaken in Ghana aims to bring in two elements of innovation in infant and young child feeding. The first involves a public-private partnership (PPP) to develop and test the efficacy and effectiveness of the delivery of a low-cost complementary food supplement in Ghana called KOKO Plus™. The second involves the testing of the concepts of social entrepreneurship and social business models in the distribution and delivery of the product. This paper shares information on the ongoing activities in the testing of concepts of PPPs, social business, social marketing, and demand creation using different delivery platforms to achieve optimal nutrition in Ghanaian infants and young children in the first 2 years of life. It also focuses on outlining the concept of using PPP and base-of-the-pyramid approaches toward achieving nutrition objectives. © 2014 New York Academy of Sciences.Item Pilot testing of the Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly toolbox in Ghana(International Breastfeeding Journal, 2018-07) Aryeetey, R.; Hromi-Fiedler, A.; Adu-Afarwuah, S.; Amoaful, E.; Ampah, G.; Gatiba, M.; Kwakye, A.; Otoo, G.; Plange-Rhule, G.; Sagoe-Moses, I.et.al.Background Ghana has achieved significant progress in breastfeeding practices in the past two decades. Further progress is, however, limited by insufficient government funding and declining donor support for breastfeeding programs. The current study pretested feasibility of the Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly (BBF) toolbox in Ghana, to assess the existing enabling environment and gaps for scaling-up effective actions. Methods Between June 2016 and April 2017, a 15-person expert country committee drawn from government and non-government agencies was established to implement the BBF toolbox. The committee used the BBF index (BBFI), comprising of 54 benchmarks and eight gears of the Breastfeeding Gear Model (advocacy; political will; legislation and policy; funding and resources; training and program delivery; promotion; research and evaluation; and coordination, goals and monitoring). Available evidence (document reviews, and key informant interviews) was used to arrive at consensus-scoring of benchmarks. Benchmark scores ranged between 0 (no progress) and 3 (major progress). Scores for each gear were averaged to estimate the Gear Total Score (GTS), ranging from 0 (least) to 3.0 (strong). GTS’s were aggregated as a weighted average to estimate the BBFI which ranged from 0 (weak) to 3.0 (outstanding). Gaps in policy and program implementation and recommendations were proposed for decision-making. Results The BBFI score was 2.0, indicating a moderate scaling-up environment for breastfeeding in Ghana. Four gears recorded strong gear strength: advocacy (2.3); political will (2.3); legislation and policy (2.3); and coordination, goals and monitoring (2.7). The remaining four gears had moderate gear strength: funding and resources (1.3); training and program delivery (1.9); promotion (2.0); and research and evaluation (1.3). Key policy and program gaps identified by the committee included sub-optimal coordination across partners, inadequate coverage and quality of services, insufficient government funding, sub-optimal enforcement of policies, and inadequate monitoring of existing initiatives. Prioritized recommendations from the process were: 1) strengthen advocacy and empower breastfeeding champions, 2) strengthen breastfeeding regulations, including maternity protection, 3) strengthen capacity for providing breastfeeding services, and 4) expand and sustain breastfeeding awareness initiatives. Conclusions The moderate environment for scaling-up breastfeeding in Ghana can be further strengthened by addressing identified gaps in policy and programs.