Predictors of vitamin A rich food consumption among women living in households growing orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes in selected regions in Uganda

Abstract

Objective: Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) has serious public health consequences
including morbidity and mortality for populations in low and middle-income
countries (LMICs), especially for children under 5 years and pregnant women.
LMICs are at greater risk of VAD, in part due to low levels of consumption of
vitamin A-rich foods most of which are plant-based, such as orange-fleshed
sweet potatoes (OFSP), with lower bioavailability than animal sources of the
vitamin A. Food-based approaches such as biofortification of OFSP, including
promoting the consumption of vitamin A-rich biofortified staple crops, has
been shown to be potentially eective in improving the status of vitamin A and
other micronutrients. This study examined vitamin A-rich food consumption
and its predictors among women of reproductive age from OFSP-growing
households in two regions of Uganda.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 617 OFSP growing
households, focusing on women in the reproductive age group from the
northern and eastern regions of Uganda. Households were not receiving any
VAD-related intervention at the time of the survey. Quantitative data included
vitamin A-rich food consumption, knowledge on vitamin A, and rich food
sources dietary intake, using a 7-day food frequency questionnaire. Vitamin
A consumption and risk of deficiency were estimated using the Hellen Keller
International guide.
Results: The majority of women in this study were either pregnant (80%) or
lactating (17%). More than 70% of the study population had a weighted vitamin
A rich food consumption mean score of <6 days per week, indicating a high
risk of VAD. Knowledge about vitamin A [b (SE) = −0.18 (0.50), p < 0.001] was
significantly and inversely associated with vitamin A rich food consumption.
Conclusion: Components of food insecurity such as availability, aordability,
utilization, and changing food preferences may contribute to the unexpected
inverse relationship between knowledge and consumption of vitamin A
rich foods. Scaling up biofortified food initiatives, including OFSP, can
improve consumption of vitamin A rich foods with eective strategies comprehensively address consumption barriers such as lack of nutrition
education, cooking skills, and storage facilities, as well as low production levels
and perceived contamination of biofortified foods.