The impact of food fortification on stunting in Zimbabwe: does gender of the household head matter?
Abstract Background High prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years poses a major threat to child development in developing countries. It is associated with micronutrient deficiency arising from poor diets fed to children under 5 years. Food fortification is amongst the interventions focused a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2020-03-01
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| Series: | Nutrition Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12937-020-00541-z |
| _version_ | 1818500109563854848 |
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| author | Terrence Kairiza George Kembo Asankha Pallegedara Lesley Macheka |
| author_facet | Terrence Kairiza George Kembo Asankha Pallegedara Lesley Macheka |
| author_sort | Terrence Kairiza |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background High prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years poses a major threat to child development in developing countries. It is associated with micronutrient deficiency arising from poor diets fed to children under 5 years. Food fortification is amongst the interventions focused at reducing the incidence of stunting in children under 5 years. Methods Using a large-scale household data from Zimbabwe, we investigated the gender-based importance of household adoption of food fortification on the proportion of stunted children in the household. We employed propensity score matching to mitigate self-selection bias associated with household adoption of food fortification. Results We offer three major findings. Firstly, we find statistically weak evidence that female headed households are more likely to adopt food fortification than their male counterparts. Secondly, food fortification reduces the proportion of stunted children in the household. Finally, in comparison to non-adopters, female headed households that adopt food fortification are more able to reduce the proportion of stunted children in their households than their male counterparts. Conclusion The results highlight the need for policy makers to actively promote food fortification, as such interventions are likely to contribute to the reduction of stunting and to involve men in fortification interventions to improve on their knowledge and appreciation of fortified foods and the associated benefits. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T20:38:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d80b242f1e4340a898389ebfcb4a55e6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1475-2891 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T20:38:29Z |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nutrition Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-d80b242f1e4340a898389ebfcb4a55e62022-12-22T01:34:27ZengBMCNutrition Journal1475-28912020-03-0119111210.1186/s12937-020-00541-zThe impact of food fortification on stunting in Zimbabwe: does gender of the household head matter?Terrence Kairiza0George Kembo1Asankha Pallegedara2Lesley Macheka3Department of Economics, Bindura University of Science EducationFood and Nutrition Council of ZimbabweDepartment of Industrial Management, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka and Chair of Development Economics, Passau UniversityCentre for Innovation and Technology Transfer, Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences and TechnologyAbstract Background High prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years poses a major threat to child development in developing countries. It is associated with micronutrient deficiency arising from poor diets fed to children under 5 years. Food fortification is amongst the interventions focused at reducing the incidence of stunting in children under 5 years. Methods Using a large-scale household data from Zimbabwe, we investigated the gender-based importance of household adoption of food fortification on the proportion of stunted children in the household. We employed propensity score matching to mitigate self-selection bias associated with household adoption of food fortification. Results We offer three major findings. Firstly, we find statistically weak evidence that female headed households are more likely to adopt food fortification than their male counterparts. Secondly, food fortification reduces the proportion of stunted children in the household. Finally, in comparison to non-adopters, female headed households that adopt food fortification are more able to reduce the proportion of stunted children in their households than their male counterparts. Conclusion The results highlight the need for policy makers to actively promote food fortification, as such interventions are likely to contribute to the reduction of stunting and to involve men in fortification interventions to improve on their knowledge and appreciation of fortified foods and the associated benefits.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12937-020-00541-zChild stunting; genderBiofortificationFortificationMicronutrient deficiency |
| spellingShingle | Terrence Kairiza George Kembo Asankha Pallegedara Lesley Macheka The impact of food fortification on stunting in Zimbabwe: does gender of the household head matter? Nutrition Journal Child stunting; gender Biofortification Fortification Micronutrient deficiency |
| title | The impact of food fortification on stunting in Zimbabwe: does gender of the household head matter? |
| title_full | The impact of food fortification on stunting in Zimbabwe: does gender of the household head matter? |
| title_fullStr | The impact of food fortification on stunting in Zimbabwe: does gender of the household head matter? |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of food fortification on stunting in Zimbabwe: does gender of the household head matter? |
| title_short | The impact of food fortification on stunting in Zimbabwe: does gender of the household head matter? |
| title_sort | impact of food fortification on stunting in zimbabwe does gender of the household head matter |
| topic | Child stunting; gender Biofortification Fortification Micronutrient deficiency |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12937-020-00541-z |
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