Food Sources and Dietary Quality in Small Island Developing States: Development of Methods and Policy Relevant Novel Survey Data from the Pacific and Caribbean

Haynes, Emily and Bhagtani, Divya and Iese, Viliamu and Brown, Catherine R. and Fesaitu, Jioje and Hambleton, Ian and Badrie, Neela and Kroll, Florian and Guell, Cornelia and Brugulat-Panes, Anna and Saint Ville, Arlette and Benjamin-Neelon, Sara E and Foley, Louise and Samuels, Thelma Alafia and Wairiu, Morgan and Forouhi, Nita G. and Unwin, Nigel and Bosenaqali, Sairusi and Navunicagi, Otto (2020) Food Sources and Dietary Quality in Small Island Developing States: Development of Methods and Policy Relevant Novel Survey Data from the Pacific and Caribbean. Nutrients, 12 (3350). pp. 1-22. ISSN 2072-6643

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Abstract

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have high and increasing rates of diet-related
diseases. This situation is associated with a loss of food sovereignty and an increasing reliance on
nutritionally poor food imports. A policy goal, therefore, is to improve local diets through improved
local production of nutritious foods. Our aim in this study was to develop methods and collect
preliminary data on the relationships between where people source their food, their socio-demographic
characteristics and dietary quality in Fiji and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) in order to inform
further work towards this policy goal. We developed a toolkit of methods to collect individual-level
data, including measures of dietary intake, food sources, socio-demographic and health indicators.
Individuals aged �15 years were eligible to participate. From purposively sampled urban and rural
areas, we recruited 186 individuals from 95 households in Fiji, and 147 individuals from 86 households
in SVG. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression were used to investigate associations.
The mean dietary diversity score, out of 10, was 3.7 (SD1.4) in Fiji and 3.8 (SD1.5) in SVG. In both
settings, purchasing was the most common way of sourcing food. However, 68% (Fiji) and 45%
(SVG) of participants regularly (>weekly) consumed their own produce, and 5% (Fiji) and 33% (SVG)
regularly consumed borrowed/exchanged/bartered food. In regression models, independent positive
associations with dietary diversity (DD) were: borrowing/exchanging/bartering food (� = 0.73 (0.21,
1.25)); age (0.01 (0.00, 0.03)); and greater than primary education (0.44 (0.06, 0.82)). DD was negatively associated with small shop purchasing (

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General)
Divisions:	Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PACE-SD)
Depositing User:	Viliamu Iese
Date Deposited:	22 Feb 2021 05:45
Last Modified:	14 Dec 2021 05:58
URI:	https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/12630

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