Premium
A garden‐based nutrition intervention in the rural Dominican Republic – impact on vitamin A rich food consumption
Author(s) -
Binford John Christopher,
Camp Meredith Ann,
Camp Debbie
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.26.1_supplement.631.6
Subject(s) - nutrition education , environmental health , intervention (counseling) , psychological intervention , food security , vitamin , medicine , consumption (sociology) , vitamin a deficiency , general partnership , gerontology , geography , retinol , agriculture , business , nursing , sociology , social science , archaeology , finance
Garden‐based nutrition interventions focus on improving food security and food diversity through the creation and augmentation of homestead food production. Objectives This study assesses the impact of a garden‐based nutrition intervention on the consumption of vitamin A rich foods in rural communities of the Dominican Republic. Methods A garden‐based nutrition intervention was implemented by the Fundación Salud y Bienestar (NGO) in partnership with the authors. A validated “Vitamin A Food Frequency” questionnaire was conducted by convenience sampling of households containing a pregnant woman or a child under the age of five years in two control and two intervention communities. Interviews were conducted before the intervention (n=71) and two years after its initiation (n=48). Results Pre‐ and post‐intervention analysis revealed an increase in average weekly intake of vitamin A‐rich foods in both intervention and control communities (p < 0.001). There was a larger, but not statistically significant, increase in vitamin A food intake in the intervention communities compared to control communities. Conclusions These results indicate that garden‐based nutrition interventions may be a valuable means to enhance Vitamin A food intake in rural settings in developing countries. Support was provided by the Downs Fellowship/Yale University School of Medicine.