Multicultural Groups Research Articles

When Holding in Prevents From Reaching Out: Emotion Suppression and Social Support-Seeking in Multicultural Groups.

Members of multicultural groups benefit from developing diverse social support networks. Engaging openly with people who have a different worldview (i.e., given by a different cultural background) broadens one’s cognitive horizons, facilitates one’s adaptation to new contexts, decreases stereotyping and discrimination and generally improves individual and group performance. However, if this social connection is hindered (either by limiting the number of people one reaches out to or in terms of preferring to connect to similar others), then the diversity advantage is lost – both for the individuals and for the groups. Through two case studies of professional groups with varying cultural diversity (moderate and superdiverse), we investigate the evolution of their members’ social support networks (i.e., to what extent and to whom they reach out for support) depending on (1) individuals’ habitual emotion suppression and (2) cultural orientation on the individualism-collectivism dimension. Results show that individualistic cultures suffer a double-whammy: when suppressing, their members seek less support (i.e., don’t reach out so much to ask for support) and tend to seek culturally similar others for it when they do. Suppressing collectivists are less affected in absolute levels of connectedness, but still prefer culturally similar others as sources of support. Our study offers an emotion-based view of why people stick together with similar others in diverse groups and how learning to better cope with emotions can make us more open-minded toward diversity in professional settings.

Minimizing barriers

While veterinarians are increasingly seen by dairy producers as training providers for their diverse workforce, veterinary medicine curricula offers limited opportunities for practitioners to develop into effective communicators, especially when having to engage with multicultural groups. Conducting training on a dairy farm to change behaviors and to improve animal health and performance goes beyond a presentation translated by a bilingual dairy employee. While language barriers should be addressed, veterinarians should also be aware of cultural factors that may affect communication and the success of the training efforts. This article and associated presentation propose best practices for the facilitation of culturally-congruent training programs to improve dairy worker performance.

Using theories from group psychotherapy to understand group process in multicultural focus groups: A pilot study

This study explores the applicability of the American Group Psychotherapy Association’s (AGPA) Practice Guidelines for Group Psychotherapy to analyse the construction of group processes in three focus groups with patients, clinicians, and administrators on cultural competence. Each focus group was recorded, transcribed, and analysed through codes developed from the AGPA’s Guidelines. Findings were compared and contrasted to discover thematic convergences and divergences. Our results show that certain processes such as catharsis, imparting information, and universality emerged commonly across all three focus groups, but with different frequencies. Group processes influenced how participants interacted and influenced each other in their responses, suggesting the value of analysing group processes in multicultural focus groups.

Advancing our futures – Educational potential of interdisciplinary artistic projects to children ‘at risk’ in Denmark and South Africa

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Seoul Agenda for Arts Education (2010) calls for ensuring equitable access to arts education for all, strengthening the quality of arts education and harnessing its potential to contribute to resolving social and cultural challenges. In both South Africa and Denmark, a practice–policy gap exists between what the curricula prescribe in the area of arts education and what is experienced to be happening in the everyday life at schools. This gap contributes to creating inequality in terms of access to arts education. It is therefore important to find ways that might give access to arts education to a broader range of children, and to find out how their participation might contribute to advancing their future opportunities. This paper explores how arts education policies can be enacted within schools in both Denmark and South Africa. It takes as its point of departure a project that investigates the potential of an educational practice that integrates dance with visual arts and involves multicultural groups of children, teachers and artists in two school classes in South Africa and Denmark. It focuses on what importance arts education might have, especially to those children in the two classes who are ‘at risk’, by illuminating their experiences and opportunities for learning through integration of dance and visual arts. In this study, a phenomenologically inspired concept of learning, which includes enhanced awareness, theories of multi-modal experience in the arts and Todres’ concept of ‘soulful space’ contribute to illuminate educational potential of the artistic-educational approaches that were developed in the project. Through a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology, children’s experiences were elicited through reflective group dialogues involving ‘stimulated recall’ based on photographs of them engaged in different activities and drawings that they had created, which reflected their experiences.

Ethnicity and Immigration Status as Risk Factors for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Anemia and Pregnancy Outcomes Among Food Insecure Women Attending the Montreal Diet Dispensary Program.

The primary aim of this study was to characterize the rate of adverse pregnancy outcomes in a multicultural group of low-income women. Data were extracted from the Montreal Diet Dispensary's database between June 2013 and December 2015. Risk was evaluated using logistic regression adjusted for covariates. Of the 1,387 pregnancies, the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was 17.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 15.1% to 19.3%), maternal anemia 44.9% (95% CI, 41.9% to 47.9%) and hypertension 3.8% (95% CI, 2.8% to 4.8%). The prevalence of small-for-gestational-age infants was 5.5% (95% CI, 4.3% to 6.7%), preterm births 4.7% (95% CI, 3.6% to 5.9%), low birthweight 4.2% (95% CI, 3.1% to 5.2%) and large-for-gestational-age infants was 10.6% (95% CI, 9.0% to 12.2%). Asian women had an increased odds of gestational diabetes mellitus (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.86; 95% CI, 1.17 to 2.98) and SGA infants (aOR, 2.35; 95% CI 1.21 to 4.57) compared with white women. Anemia was more likely for black women compared with white women (aOR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.29 to 2.35). Black women were more at risk of preterm birth (aOR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.01 to 3.19). Immigrants showed an increased risk of maternal anemia compared with Canadian-born women (aOR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.06 to 3.21). As disparities in maternal and infant outcomes were present, nutritional intervention(s) need to be targeted toward prevention of adverse pregnancy outcomes, prioritization of higher-risk groups and adaptation of the program to a multiethnic low-income population.

الهوية الثقافية المُعلنة عبر المنصات الإلكترونية لمؤسسات التعليم العالي: دراسة مقارنة على جامعة الشارقة والجامعة الأمريكية في الإمارات

There is substantial cultural diversity in many societies these days. Consequently, the need for cross-cultural institutions to build and present their ethical values ​​and cultural identity within different systems and societies has grown. Most higher education institutions face the challenge of applying their own cultural identity to the international communities and networks that they interact and collaborate with. Higher education institutions working at the local level also need to emphasize their cultural uniqueness while adhering to international standards, particularly in their interaction with multicultural groups. This study explores and analyzes the values and cultural characteristics expressed by the University of Sharjah and the American University in the Emirates on their official website and social networking sites. Through the use of qualitative content analysis, research findings indicate that University of Sharjah adopts a local cultural approach in expressing its cultural identity based on established Islamic Arab traditions and international standards of academic quality. The American University on the other hand, adopts a global approach in building its cultural identity in order to have a leading position among liberal academic institutions. In addition to supporting values of integrity and equality, it also expresses its adherence to UAE social, cultural, and religious values in an attempt to merge Arab and international cultures.

Communication and Group Work in the Multicultural Classroom: Immigrant Students’ Experiences

<p style="text-align:justify">The paper is part of the qualitative research project Educational Aspirations, Opportunities and Challenges for Immigrants in University Education in Iceland, conducted in Iceland’s three biggest universities. The main goal of the paper is to investigate immigrant students’ experiences of communication with teachers during the learning process and their perspectives on multicultural group work. Furthermore, the paper explores immigrant students’ experiences of learner-centred approach and culturally responsive teaching methods applied by some teachers. The data was collected through focus group interviews and qualitative, semi-structured individual interviews with immigrant students. The theoretical framework is mainly based on the constructivist theory, which emphasises the importance of communication and the learner-centred approach. Additionally, the theoretical framework includes multicultural education theory, which puts an emphasis on applying culturally responsive teaching methods in classrooms with diverse student populations. The analysis of the interviews revealed that the participants’ experiences of communication with teachers and peers were mostly positive. However, culturally responsive teaching is still a rare phenomenon in Icelandic universities. When it comes to the participants’ perspectives on group work, the experiences ranged from being highly positive to negative.</p>

Values congruence in multicultural groups: the causal mapping method

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present the adoption and application of the causal mapping method for cognitive distances measurement in the multicultural domain.Design/methodology/approachCausal mapping was used to estimate differences in mental models between participants. The developed method was applied in a multicultural setting for the selection of teaching cases.FindingsIn the main study, 129 people participated in the test. Overall, 7,217 relationships were tested. A set of demographic variables were used to test the reliability and external validity of the method. The method proved to be reliable and easy to apply. A smaller second study is an application example of the method.Research limitations/implicationsThe main study proposes a formula for distance ratio calculation. Moreover, this formula proved to be externally valid and reliable. Thus, it is of interest for further research in this domain.Practical implicationsPractitioners are provided with a tool for the analysis of intercultural differences with the example of the perception of cultural values to develop a better understanding and improve education in a multicultural setting. Study 2 proposes an example of the methodology application.Originality/valueThis is the first application of causal mapping in the field of values research performed in a multicultural education setting. The formula for comparing causal maps is improved upon, and an application for the field of multicultural university classes is provided.

Impacts of early marriage and adolescent pregnancy on mental and somatic health: the role of partner violence

Researchers agree that early marriage (EM) and adolescent pregnancy (AP) can form severe risks for women’s somatic, mental, and reproductive health, as well as on educational and social status. Yet, less is known about factors that may moderate or mediate these associations. This study examined, first, retrospectively the impacts of EM and AP on self-reported mental and somatic health among multicultural group of women living in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey. Second task was to analyze whether and how the partner violence would mediate and/or moderate between EM and AP and mental health problems. The participants were 1569 women (16–72 years of age), who reported their age of being married, first pregnancy, and demographic characteristics. They described their mental health status through General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28: depressive, anxiety, social dysfunction, and somatization symptoms) and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; DSM-5). Women’s reports of somatic illnesses were classified according to WHO-ICD-10. The revised conflict tactics scale, short form was used as a proxy to partner violence. Women who gave birth at 13–19 years of age reported more anxiety and somatization symptoms than later delivered, and those married younger than 25 showed a higher level of depressive symptoms than later married. Both AP and EM formed a heightened risk for somatic illnesses. The partner violence functioned as a moderator; AP was associated with especially high levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms among women exposed to sexual coercion in their marriage. Non-significant mediation analysis indicates that partner violence did not explain the severe impacts of the AP and EM on women’s mental health. Yet, the AP and EM were associated with heightened level of partner violence. Adolescent pregnancy forms a comprehensive mental health risk, and both AP and EM were risks for somatic illnesses, such as cardiovascular problems. The mental health risk of AP further intensified if women experienced sexual coercion in their partnership. Our fundamental work is to abolish these patriarchal phenomena.

The Perceived Family and Parental Influence on African American Men Who Enroll in Community Colleges

Higher education institutions have generally been successful in increasing the number of diverse populations who attend college, especially recruiting and enrolling record numbers of Hispanic and Asian students. African American enrollments continue to lag behind these other diverse groups, with African American men being among the lowest of the multicultural groups to be enrolled in higher education today. Community colleges have been perhaps the most successful in recruiting and enrolling African American men, and the current study sought to describe how the families of these men interact and encourage or discourage enrollment. Using a series of semi-structured interviews, families were found to play a perceived important role in the decision to enroll in a community college. These families mentored the African American men in the study, created expectations for them to have successful life beyond high school, and pushed them to have positive ideas about their future and to plan for that future. These findings were consistent with modeling about college going decision-making, and also reinforced the emerging theory of community expectancy.

Inclusive classroom – teaching multicultural groups of students – an intercultural project with students from 13 countries

Educating multicultural groups is not easy as a teacher has to deal with students from different cultural backgrounds in limited space and time. Still, it is feasible, provided that we are able to create a positive and trusting classroom environment in which all students are made to feel valued, respected and welcome. The one that combats stereotypes and prejudices allows multiple perspectives and ways of thinking and helps students develop a positive self-image. In such a classroom students can develop not only knowledge and skills, but also multicultural awareness, if only they are willing to coexist and cooperate with each other as well as accept and appreciate their varied backgrounds. Some points that I found to be the keys to success in my applied research are: culturally responsive teaching and differentiated instruction taking into account not only cultural diversity but also different learning styles andpreferences. Apart from their flexibility in the area of methodology, a teacher should use a multisensory approach to appeal to different learning styles.

Predictors for Transcultural Self-efficacy of Nursing Students: Application of Ecological Model

Objective: This research aimed to explore the significant factors for transcultural self-efficacy applying the Bronfenbrenner's ecological framework. Objectives were to identify the degrees of three domains; cognitive, practical and affective of transcultural self-efficacy, to find the significant differences between demographic factors and transcultural self-efficacy, to examine the relationship among variables and to explore the predictors for the transcultural self-efficacy of nursing students according to the levels of the ecological model. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, quantitative correlational design with secondary data analysis using hierarchical regression models. Results: Demographic factors; geographic location, age, gender and relationship with multicultural groups were significantly associated with transcultural self-efficacy. Geographic location, cultural sensitivity, interpersonal communication skills, and emotional regulation were the predictors for transcultural self-efficacy. Conclusion: Based on the findings, macro and microsystem, and ontogenic factors emphasize the needs of developing knowledge, skills and most importantly attitudes towards the social justice, interacting with every people with no bias on their race, religion, social status controlling their self-emotions and being empathy in nursing students.

Classroom management into learning: using phenomenography to analyse student teachers’ conceptions of classroom management

Classroom management is a critical area in the curriculum of teacher education programs. Student teachers’ conceptions of the role of the teacher as a class leader are frequently backed by their intuition and experience as students and socio-cultural context rather than evidence-based. This paper examines the conceptions of classroom management held by a multicultural group of forty-four student teachers attending a teacher education program at a higher education institute in Macao. The study aims at understanding the patterns of variation expressed by student teachers regarding the purpose and relevance of the object of learning. It compares a) the patterns of variation in students’ views of classroom management, and b) the students’ learning progress based on the pre-and post-test. The phenomenographic approach was adopted as the conceptual framework. Participants handwritten transcripts from student teachers at the first and last sessions of the course are the primary type of data collection. The findings show that changes in student teachers’ understanding of the conceptions of classroom management occurred during the course. The initial preferences for disciplinary approaches to classroom leadership have given way to conceptions of promoting the integration of classroom management into learning. The participants expressed increasing adherence to classroom management systems targeting and providing behavioural and academic supports and interventions to children and adolescents with and without special needs.

Laughing Matters: ELLs’ Comprehension and Perceptions of Humor

Humor is probably one of the few features applicable to virtually all people in the world, but the perception and appreciation of humor can be circumstantial and culture-dependent. Although the potential role of humor in language classrooms has been the topic of research over the last years, limited research has been conducted on cross-cultural variability in humor perception and appreciation. The current study, seeking to address this gap, was conducted with a multicultural group of English language learners (ELLs). One hundred and six ELLs consisting of three main groups (i.e., Turkish, Asian and European) took part in this study. After completing a language background questionnaire, participants rated 6 humorous scenarios and then completed a 25-item humor perception questionnaire. Further, participants answered three open-ended questions at the end of the questionnaire. The results indicated that learners generally assigned more positive scores to universal jokes when compared to linguistic and cultural jokes. As for the perception of humor use in English classrooms, Asian group held slightly less positive attitudes towards the use of humor whereas Turkish group was the one most interested in the employment of humor. In addition, the results indicated that humor was linked to several benefits such as lowering affective barriers to English language learning, increasing ELLs’ attentiveness in the classroom and improving teacher-student rapport.

The search for a container in a precarious environment

This article explores the impact of the parallel process of a precarious environment on a multicultural therapy group for women survivors of torture and persecution who had sought asylum in Ireland. The environments for both therapists and group members were experienced as producing ‘unthinkable anxiety’ (Winnicott, 1962: 57). For the therapists, their context was of threatened dismissal due to organizational restructuring, and for the group members it was the threat of deportation. The impact shaped decisions pertaining to the dynamic administration of how the group should be conducted and for how long. It led to a clinical crisis when the anxiety in the group became enmeshed, provoking primitive defences which affected the capacity to think, and blocked understanding on the part of the therapists. Flexibility in the level of leadership activity allowed for a containing process to take place and the group to become the therapist (Sclapobersky, 2016: 210). This flexible approach enabled the naming of an anxiety for the group as a whole which bound together the fragmented, intense emotions, and opened up the reflective space to the contents the members wished to have contained (Hinshelwood, 1994: 102). All names have been changed and the group gave consent for the authors to write about this experience.

“Magic and the Mind”: The Impact of Cultural and Linguistic Background on the Perception of Characters in Harry Potter

While there has been a multitude of studies of Harry Potter since its first appearance, including studies analyzing individual characters, social classes in the wizarding world, and a number that examine the “Harry Potter phenomenon” as a whole, there are none that systematically analyze and compare the characters in terms of how they are perceived. This paper examines and compares the perceptions of the personality of seven characters in Harry Potter held by individuals who have read the books or watched the movies of Harry Potter in either English or Chinese language. The study was undertaken through an online survey that used the Ten-Item Personality Inventory as the core instrument. It was found that Chinese respondents were significantly more likely to score the characters higher in Extraversion, Agreeableness and Openness, although other factors, including gender and the respondents’ “exposure” to Harry Potter, also had a significant impact on perceptions. These findings both confirm various other studies that have examined cross-cultural differences in perceptions and extend previous work by applying it to another domain, namely the analysis of fictional characters. The findings carry important implications for, among others, teachers of multicultural student groups and translators of children’s fiction.

Mad Men and Mindfulness

Mad Men and Mindfulness Niels Niessen (bio) I've got to get out of here. I choose a piece of shawl and my dirtiest suntans. I'll be back, / I'll re-emerge, defeated, from the valley; you don't want me to go where / you go, so I go where you don't want me to. It's only afternoon, there's a lot ahead. There won't be any mail / downstairs. Turning, I spit in the lock and the knob turns. —Frank O'Hara, Meditations in an Emergency The television series Mad Men (created by Matthew Weiner and aired on AMC between 2007 and 2015) forms an extended reflection on the creative process. The show compels its viewer to think about thinking, to think about how ideas and images emerge in our brains, and to think about the instrumentalization of thought in advertising and other creative sectors (such as academia). Mad Men ends mindfully when, toward the end of its seven seasons, advertising genius and wandering soul Don Draper finds himself meditating in a hippie retreat in central California, his legs in lotus, his gaze inward, breathing out into a collective "Ohm-m-m." It is 1970. Gone are the days of Sterling Cooper, the rookie Madison Avenue "mom-and-pop" firm where Don started his career over a decade [End Page 273] Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Mad Men's final episode, "Person to Person" (AMC, 2015). Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 2. Mad Men's final episode, "Person to Person" (AMC, 2015). Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 3. Mad Men's final episode, "Person to Person" (AMC, 2015). [End Page 274] earlier but now has been swallowed by the corporate hallways of McCann-Erickson. And Don? Don is in his own space. Having walked out of a Miller Beer meeting a few episodes earlier, he has presumably quit advertising, drifted west across the Great Plains in a cloud of anxiety dreams and marijuana, in order to arrive, in the sense that one arrives in a mediation class: right here and right now, connecting body and mind by focusing on the act of breathing. While the meditation instructor speaks the soothing words that "the new day brings new hope," the camera zooms in on Don's blissful face against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean. Then the image cuts to Coca-Cola's iconic "Perfect Harmony" commercial bubbling up in Don's well-rested mind. The commercial (which in reality dates from 1971), shows a multicultural group of youngsters who are standing on an Italian hilltop while they sing "in perfect harmony" that they'd like to buy the world a home and a Coke and "furnish it with love." It is on this note of bottled love that Mad Men leaves its viewer and concludes its eight years of some of the most captivating television ever made (Figures 1–3). The reader familiar with meditation will recognize what has just happened in Don's brain: It is typically those moments one lets go of thinking that the best thoughts come to mind. Half a century after Don's retreat, this insight—that creativity requires not only focus but also relaxation of mind—has also spread widely across today's creative industries, especially those of Silicon Valley, just north of Don's hippie resort (which has been pegged as the Esalen Institute in Big Sur),1 and the place where new American Dreams are made. As Wired reports, "across the Valley, quiet contemplation is seen as the new caffeine, the fuel that allegedly unlocks productivity and creative bursts. Classes in meditation and mindfulness—paying close, nonjudgmental attention—have become staples at many of the region's most prominent companies."2 The embrace of mindfulness by the tech world is somewhat paradoxical. As Evgeny Morozov observes, "in essence we are being urged to unplug, . . . so that we can resume our usual activities with even more vigor upon returning to the land of distraction."3 This quest for mindfulness, Morozov adds, plays the same role as Buddhism: "Accept the world as it is—and simply try to find a...

Intersections of gender and age in accessing River Basin Resources in Tanzania: a comparative analysis of fishing and agro-pastoralist communities in rural areas of Tanzania


 
 
 This paper applies intersectionality theories to investigate how informal social relations factors in terms of age and gender interact to affect people’s access to river basin resources (RBR) in Tanzania. Access to RBR is defined as practical rights to use RBR and benefits that are accrued from the use of RBR. Data were collected from a survey conducted among households living along the Kilombero River in Tanzania. Three villages that differ in cultural backgrounds i.e. a fishing community, an agro-pastoralist community and a village with people from multi-cultural groups were included in the survey. A multivariate probit model is used to determine access in terms of practical rights to use RBR, and a generalized ordered logit model is used to determine access in terms of benefits from the use of RBR. Findings show that both practical rights to use RBR and benefits from the use of resources are highly gendered, though their impact differs according to age groups and cultural groups. One common feature in all cultural groups is that the norms that deny women rights to use RBR result in a gendered distribution of labour, especially when access to RBR leads to income-generating activities. The findings also highlight that women are less likely to benefit from the use of resources. Within a single cultural group, a fishing community, the study found that benefits from the use of RBR vary according to age. In line with intersectionality theories, we conclude that, both men and women are heterogeneous groups in societies. While it is generally perceived that women in rural areas are the victims of norms that deny their development, this is not the case for all women. Findings also reveal the importance of distinguishing between practical rights to use resources and benefits derived from their use.
 Key words: River Basins Resources, access to river basin resources, practical rights to use resources, ability to benefit from resources, gender, intersectionality
 
 

ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ ЕФЕКТИВНОСТІ НАВЧАННЯ НЕРІДНОЇ МОВИ В ПОЛІКУЛЬТУРНИХ ГРУПАХ СТУДЕНТІВ

У статті аналізується питання ефективності засвоєння іноземної мови в умовах полікультурного навчання. Вперше багатокультурна за складом група розглядається в якості моделі реального мовного середовища. Встановлено доцільність впровадження різних видів пізнавальної та розвивальної діяльності, що допомагають суб’єктам навчання зрозуміти особливості різних культур. Автором запропонована програма розвитку полікультурної компетенції особистості в ході оволодіння навиками іноземної мови. Описано характер впливу розроблених методичних прийомів на покращення засвоєння іноземної мови. Зокрема за результатами цільових спостережень та анкетування виявлені зміни у рівні зацікавленості студентів до вивчення даної навчальної дисципліни. Заняття, організовані в рамках формувального експерименту, виявились більш ефективними. Звертається увага на певні відмінності між представниками різних країн. &nbsp

Iodine deficiency in women of childbearing age: not bread alone?

Iodine deficiency remains a public health concern, particularly in pregnant women and those planning pregnancy because of the risk of impaired fetal neurological development. Following implementation of strategies to improve iodine intake in Australia, there has been minimal investigation into current iodine status. We aimed to characterise iodine status in a population of women of childbearing-age in Australia. A cross-sectional study was performed in 97 women of childbearing-age attending outpatient clinics at a tertiary hospital in Sydney. Pregnant and postmenopausal women were excluded. Iodine intake was surveyed via questionnaire. Spot urinary iodine (UI) was concurrently measured. The relationships between UI, dietary intake and use of iodine-containing multivitamins/medications were examined. Median UI was 117 ug/L. Forty women (41%) were iodine deficient (UI <100 ug/L). The most commonly consumed source of dietary iodine was bread (29/97, 30% daily). Forty-three women took iodine-containing multivitamins but 18/43 (41.2%) remained deficient. There were no significant associations between UI and diet. There was a smaller proportion of deficient people than in our previous study (125/180 non-pregnant subjects, 69%, vs 41% in this study, p<0.001). The overall population median is now sufficient, however, a significant proportion of this multicultural group are iodine deficient. There are similar proportions of deficiency in those using iodine supplements versus not. Contributors may include ethnicity-related dietary practices, limited awareness or poor adherence to iodine supplements. Despite public health strategies, a significant proportion of women of child-bearing age remained iodine deficient. Further research involving a larger population and contributors to iodine deficiency is warranted.