A Behavioral Intervention Increases Consumption of a New Biofortified Food by School Children: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Nigeria

David R Just,Putri E Abidin,Gnel Gabrielyan,Souleimane Adekambi,Norman Kwikiriza,Edward Carey,Julius J Okello

doi:10.1057/s41287-021-00363-7

David R Just, Putri E Abidin + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-021-00363-7

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Abstract

Children’s diets can have major implications for a wide range of diseases and their development outcomes. In Africa, micronutrient deficiency remains a major challenge and affects the health and development of vulnerable populations, especially children. A major effort to combat micronutrient deficiency has targeted biofortification of staple foods, with greatest potential being registered in the enrichment of, among others, sweetpotato with beta carotene—a precursor for vitamin A. However, overcoming vitamin A deficiency is made all the more complicated by children’s general resistance to unfamiliar foods. We report the results of a field experiment in Nigerian schools designed to use behavioral techniques to promote consumption of an unfamiliar food: the pro-vitamin A rich orange-fleshed sweetpotato. We find that children eat more, on average, when the sweetpotato is introduced alongside behavioral nudges such as songs or association with aspirational figures. These results appear to conform to results found in a developed country context.

Highlights

Poor or inadequate diet is a major cause of poor health and premature deaths worldwide (Beaton et al 1993; Holick and Chen 2008; Stabler and Allen 2004)
We find that children in schools featuring the promotional performance and the aspirational figure, or all combined, ate significantly more orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) than the control or those receiving the age-appropriate message
Much of this work has centered around the use of behavioral interventions in US schools participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP)

Summary

Introduction

Poor or inadequate diet is a major cause of poor health and premature deaths worldwide (Beaton et al 1993; Holick and Chen 2008; Stabler and Allen 2004). VAD is an endemic problem in most low/middle-income countries including in the target population (Low et al 2017; West 2002) This intervention was part of a larger effort to introduce the OFSP as a crop for cultivation by rural households in Nigeria. The promise of biofortification, and OFSP, in combating VAD has resulted in an increase in projects that promote production, access, and consumption of the biofortified sweetpotato in Africa and Asia Some of these projects use school gardening and elementary school feeding programs as entry points for stimulating adoption and consumption of OFSP by rural households.

Background and Hypotheses

Results and Discussion

Conclusion