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Validation of participatory nutrition status assessment methods in Maasai and Batemi communities of Ngorongoro, Arusha Tanzania

A validation study was conducted in the Maasai and Batemi communities of Arusha, Tanzania between December 1996 and January 1997. The aim of this study was to compare a participatory nutrition status assessment procedure carried out by community members with an assessment completed by a professional. The study validated women (15--50 years of age) dietary intake assessments and assessed the reliability of anthropometric assessments of preschool (12--71 months) children in the hands of non-professionals. The prevalence of under-nutrition was similar for the two data sets and reliability of anthropometric measurements was found to be good except for the mid-upper-arm circumference measurement for which the difference between measurements of the professional and the nonprofessional and between two occasions differed significantly (p < 0.001). Results suggest that participatory nutrition status assessment procedure by community members is useful and fairly reliable, giving results similar to a procedure administered by a professional for some anthropometric indices. The correlation between a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire administered by community members and a series of three 24-h recalls administered by a professional for assessing the risk of inadequate intake was found to be weak for vitamin A and protein but moderate for iron. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients between the mean of three 24-h recalls values and semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire estimates were 0.47 (p < 0.05) for iron, 0.29 (p < 0.05) for protein and 0.26 (p < 0.05) for vitamin A. The questionnaire produced results showing significantly higher intake estimates of protein (p < 0.001), vitamin A (p < 0.001) and iron (p < 0.01) than the average of three 24-hour recalls.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.21610
Date January 1998
CreatorsMselle, Laurent Sadikieli.
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Science (School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001657593, proquestno: MQ50841, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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