Thesis (MNutr (Human Nutrition))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Obesity is recognizably a chronic disease worldwide and childhood obesity has considerable implications for long‐term health. Manipulation of modifiable lifestyle variables, such as high‐fat energy‐dense diets and decreased physical activity are often recommended for positive (although not always significant) outcomes. This study aimed to determine the specific relationships between ready‐to‐eat cereals (RTEC) consumption (regular RTEC breakfast consumption and regular RTEC afternoon snack consumption), regular increased physical activity, and anthropometric measures [body weight, percentage body fat, and body mass index (BMI)] amongst young adolescents attending public Gauteng schools. A randomised controlled trial was conducted over 5‐weeks amongst 212 cross‐cultural, male and female, English speaking children aged 10‐13 years attending two selected public Gauteng schools. Participants were randomly allocated to one of four cohorts (Control, Step, RTEC or Step & RTEC). The control cohort had no prescribed intervention, the Step cohort had prescribed stepping intervention only (completion of 2 000 additional steps in a 20‐minute period on 3 school days per week), the RTEC cohort had prescribed RTEC consumption intervention only (consumption of a single RTEC serving at breakfast and RTEC snack serving as an afternoon snack on each school day), and the Step & RTEC cohort had both the prescribed stepping and RTEC consumption interventions. Participants were assessed anthropometrically at baseline and at the end of the 5 weeks. They also submitted a food/activity diary from which quantitative measures of their intake and activity were determined. The Step (107 845 ± 31 251) and Step & RTEC (108 793 ± 26 285) cohorts both completed significantly more mean total steps than Control (83 501 ± 22 302) and RTEC (86 082 ± 23 367) cohorts (p≤0.01), and a significant negative correlation (p=0.02; r=‐0.21) was found between the change in percentage body fat and the total steps completed. The Step & RTEC (14.32 ± 7.95) and RTEC (16.06 ± 8.82) cohorts consumed more RTEC snack servings as afternoon snacks than Control (1.13 ± 1.69) and Step (1.59 ± 2.50) cohorts (p≤0.01), and a significant negative correlation (p=0.03; r=‐0.20) was found between the participants’ change in weight and the servings of RTEC snacks consumed as an afternoon snack. No significant difference (p=0.35) was achieved in mean weight change across the four cohorts, although both Step & RTEC (‐0.12 ± 0.81) and RTEC (‐0.24 ± 0.77) cohorts showed a mean decrease in body weight. No significant difference (p=0.47) was achieved in mean change in percentage body fat across the four cohorts either, although all cohorts showed a decrease in percentage body fat, with Step cohort (‐0.32 ± 0.70) showing the greatest mean change. The stepping intervention alone brought about greatest decrease in percentage body fat, while the RTEC consumption intervention alone brought about greatest decrease in body weight and BMI. The combination of interventions was the least effective of the three interventions in bringing about decreases in percentage body fat.

The inadequate food safety knowledge by street food vendors have been a challenge encountered in ensuring safety of street foods. The aim of this study was to assess the food safety knowledge of street food vendors in the Johannesburg metropolis and to evaluate the conformance and monitoring of their street food vending facilities in accordance to regulations governing general hygiene requirements for food premises in South Africa. A cross sectional survey was conducted in which 315 street food vendors and 155 street food vending facilities were observed using a questionnaire instrument and observational checklist, respectively. The majority (61.3%) of the street food vendors were females and most (64.1%) of them had not attended a food safety training course. Only a few (12.1%) street food vendors knew the correct minimum internal cooking temperature for stuffed chicken, while less than half knew the correct temperature for cold and hot holding of ready-to-eat foods, 40% and 39% respectively. The majority of them have never heard of Salmonella (92.7%), Campylobacter (95.2%), Listeria (57.1%), Clostridium (94.3%), or Staphylococcus (87.6%). Up to 52% street food vendors had moderate food safety knowledge. Most of the street food vending facilities (68.3%) had been inspected by health inspectors and only 17% of street food vending facilities had low level of compliance to regulations governing general hygiene requirements for food premises and the transport of food in South Africa. The overall food safety knowledge of street food vendors in Johannesburg metropolis was moderate. The level of compliance and monitoring of street food vending facilities to regulations governing general hygiene requirements for food premises in South Africa was satisfactory. Street food vendors should be trained on internal cooking temperature, hot and cold storage temperature of ready-to-eat foods, and food pathogens such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria, Clostridium, and Staphylococcus / Life and Consumer Sciences / M. Cons. Sci.

Street-vended foods are convenient and cheap meals, but their contamination can lead to foodborne illness. This study aimed to evaluate food safety knowledge of street food vendors in Ulundi and AbaQulusi local municipalities of Zululand District, South Africa and compliance of their street food vending environment to sanitary requirements. A cross sectional survey design was utilised to gather data from 400 street food vendors using interviews. A piloted checklist was used to collect data on the sanitary characteristics from 200 randomly selected street food vending facilities. Most of the street food vendors were black (99%), females (73%), and above 35 years (55%). Only the minority of street food vendors had attended a high school (47%) and the vast majority (77%) of them had not attended any food safety training course. The majority (64.7%) of respondents knew that food should not be handled when they have diarrhoea, even if their hands were washed regularly, neither when they have flu, colds, cough, or catarrh. The minority (43%) of street food vendors knew that the use of separate cutting boards for meat and salad, and washing them between uses are the safest ways to avoid cross-contamination. The majority (79.4%) of street food vendors were aware that microorganisms could cause foodborne diseases that may lead to death. The vast majority (76%) of street food vendors had low food safety knowledge and only 14% of the street food vending sites had high compliance with sanitary conditions. In conclusion, most street food vendors possessed inadequate food safety knowledge in key food safety parameters and most of the street food vending facilities were noncompliant. Furthermore, most of them operate under poor sanitary conditions. Street food vendors should be provided with compliant waste disposal and standard kitchen facilities with water resources to ensure hygienic preparation and serving of food. / Life and Consumer Sciences / M. Cons. Sci.

In many countries, the authorities face extreme difficulties in monitoring and ensuring that food sold on the street is safe, that is, fit for human consumption. This is particularly the case in urban areas, where people buy food on the street because it is readily available and relatively inexpensive. The objective of this study was to determine the food safety knowledge and microbial hazard awareness of street food consumers, and to assess the bacteriological quality of selected ready-to-eat foods sold by street vendors in the Johannesburg municipality. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted and a total of 402 respondents who buy and consume street-vended foods were randomly selected at various street food vending locations. A total of 315 various street-vended samples were purchased from randomly selected street food vendors at different vending locations in Johannesburg metropolis, in order to investigate the bacteriological quality of street-vended foods. Results of the bacteriological analysis revealed that total aerobic counts ranged from 0.3*102 - 0.4*105 cfu/g in cereals and grain-based foods; 0.4*102 - 0.5*105 cfu/g in meat-, dairy- and fish-based foods and 0.7*102 - 0.9*104 cfu/g in fruit- and vegetable-based foods. None of the food samples tested positive for Salmonella spp and Staphylococcus aureus. Results of the survey showed that the majority of respondents were black males younger than 35 years. Individuals of different gender, race, level of education and monthly income groups significantly (p<0.05) differed in their responses regarding the frequency of purchasing and confidence in the safety of street-vended food. Better taste followed closely by affordability and accessibility were the most cited reasons for purchasing street-vended food / Life and Consumer Sciences / M. Sc. (Life Sciences)