Low dietary diversity and its influencing factors among a San group in Namibia

Anita Heim,Attila Paksi

doi:10.1186/s13104-019-4408-8

Abstract

ObjectiveAlthough the San in Namibia have been targeted by intensive development efforts, there is little knowledge available about San diet quality and nutritional status. The objective of this study is therefore to estimate and quantify the dietary diversity of a San group, and to investigate how socioeconomic characteristics affect dietary diversity. The dietary data (n = 200) for this cross-sectional study were collected as a part of a larger doctoral research investigating food environment, food choices, and dietary changes of the Khwe San in Bwabwata National Park East.ResultsThe mean dietary diversity score (DDS) of the participants was 2.44 out of 10, with only two people having a DDS of 5. 87.5% of participants consumed only from 2 or 3 different food groups, mainly grains/roots and dark green leafy vegetables. DDS significantly correlated only with the level of education and with age. Due to their collinearity, the group with no education had the lowest DDS, but also belonged to the oldest age group. The overall dietary diversity of the Khwe is extremely low, indicating severe nutritional inadequacy. The small differences in DDS among the socioeconomic groups indicate the importance of other determining factors, such as cultural and food environmental characteristics.

Highlights

In 2001, the San people—a generic term for several Southern African Indigenous ethnic groups—were regarded as a severe food insecure group in Namibia [1]
That a food and nutrition security monitoring system (FNSMS) operates in Namibia [3, 4], but it does not offer information on specific ethnic groups; data collection by ethnicity in national surveys is prohibited by law [5], as ethnic distinction is regarded as a legacy of apartheid
Only 22 participants were employed during the data collection period, with the majority of respondents living in low-income households

Summary

Results

200 adults participated in the dietary recall survey: 111 women—82 of them reproductive-aged (18– 49 years)—and 89 men, with an average age of 39 years. DDS ranged from 1 to 5 (of a total score of 10), with an overall mean of 2.44 ± 0.73, with only two cases of individuals consuming foods from 5 different food groups. No significant differences were found when comparing mean DDSs between genders across different SES levels (Table 1). Significant correlation was found between DDS and age and between DDS and educational levels; none of the other SES factors correlated with DDS (Fig. 1). The mean DDS across the three different education levels were compared and post hoc test revealed that the group that had no education had significantly lower DDS than the others (Table 1). There was a strong correlation between age and education level (rs = − 0.69; Fig. 1), which was confirmed when including age as a confounding factor into the analysis of covariances.

Introduction

Main text

Discussion

10. Other vegetables

Limitations