Browsing by Author "Okello-Uma, Ipolto"

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    Household dietary diversity and associated factors in rural and peri-urban areas of Mbale District, Eastern Uganda
    (BioMed Central Ltd, 2025-01-24) Oyet, Sunday Mark;; Kaahwa, Robert Mbabazi;; Muggaga, Christopher ;; Ongeng, Duncan;; Okello-Uma, Ipolto
    Background Globally, the importance of dietary diversity in addressing malnutrition and promoting overall health is increasingly being recognized. However, increasing urbanization has led to shifts in dietary preferences, food consumption patterns, and a greater reliance on less nutritious processed foods. Efforts to address these challenges have been futile, as nutrition in peri-urban areas often receives less attention, with food and nutrition insecurity typically seen as a rural issue. This study, therefore, examined dietary diversity (DD) and its socio-economic and demographic predictors in rural and peri-urban households. Methods A cross-sectional study of 221 households in rural and peri-urban Eastern Uganda collected data on DD, socio-economic and demographic factors using the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) and structured questionnaires, respectively. The data were analyzed in SPSS using descriptive statistics, and independent sample t-tests compared mean DD scores between rural and peri-urban areas. Pearson Chi-square tested differences in food group consumption, while binary logistic regression in STATA identified socio-economic and demographic predictors of household dietary diversity. Results There was no significant difference in dietary diversity (DD) between rural and peri-urban households, with mean DD scores of 6.64±1.60 and 6.55±1.30, respectively, indicating a medium level in both areas. However, significant differences were observed in the consumption of cereals and roots/tubers/plantains (p<0.05), while intake of animal-source foods and fruits remained generally low across both settings. In rural areas, household DD was significantly influenced by the education levels of the household head (β: -1.276) and spouse (β: -1.123), as well as access to credit (β: 1.136), while in peri-urban areas, average monthly income (β: -0.801) was a significant predictor of household DD. Conclusion The study showed that dietary diversity was similar and at a medium level in both rural and peri-urban households, and mainly consisted of plant-based foods, with limited consumption of fruits and animal-sourced foods. Socio-economic factors, including level of education, access to credit, and income, significantly influenced DD. These results highlight the role of socio-economic and demographic factors in shaping household diets and underscores the need for targeted interventions to improve dietary diversity and address nutritional gaps in the study area. Keywords Dietary diversity, Rural, Peri-urban, Malnutrition, Eastern Uganda
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    Nutritional knowledge, attitude, and practices among caregivers and nutritional status of children 6–24 months: evidence from Amuria and Soroti districts of Uganda
    (Springer International Publishing, 2025-04-07) Anyati, Christine;; Okello, Daniel Micheal;; Mainimo, Edmond Nyuyki ;; Okello-Uma, Ipolto
    This study assessed the factors associated with caregiver’s nutritional knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) as well as their implication on the nutritional status of children aged 6–24 months old in Soroti and Amuria districts, eastern Uganda. A cross-sectional research design was applied to collect primary data from 408 caregivers of children between 6 and 24 months. Data was collected using questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics including regression analysis. Anthropometric approaches were used to assess the nutritional status of the reference child. Results showed that there was a generally low level of knowledge on complementary feeding (CF) among caregivers in this study. There was, however generally good attitude of caregivers towards CF. The findings on practices were mixed with both good practices such as feeding the child with colostrum and bad practices such earlier than recommended introduction of complementary foods. From this study, the average time for introduction of complementary foods was 4.4 months. This was less than the recommended 6 months with only 36% of the children being introduced to complementary feeding at the recommended 6 months. Caregiver’s nutritional knowledge was predicted by child’s sex, mother as caregiver and occupation of household head, while, caregiver’s attitude was predicted by household occupation and farming as source of foods in the case caregiver’s attitude. Results on influence knowledge and attitude on child nutritional status shows that attitude is a significant predictor of stunting and wasting, but not underweight, on the other hand, knowledge was not a significant predictor of child nutritional status. The study recommends the need to improve the level of knowledge of caregivers. This could be by introducing child nutrition education through available sources of information.
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    Physico-chemical and microbiological quality of raw milk produced by smallholder farmers in Gulu City, Northern Uganda
    (Taylor & Francis, 2024-01-27) Opiyo, Alfred; Kidega, Kenneth; Okello-Uma, Ipolto; Olum, Solomon
    Abstract AbstractSmallholder dairy farmers in Northern Uganda sell raw milk to the final consumers without conducting quality control measures. This study evaluated physico-chemical and microbiological quality of milk produced by smallholder farmers in Gulu City. Samples of raw milk were collected from forty (40) smallholder dairy farmers rearing lactating exotic breed of dairy cows (Holstein Friesian) in zero grazing units and eight (8) from milk collection centers. Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 21.0) by employing descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA and t-test to separate significant means at 5% level of significance. Significant (P < 0.05) differences were observed in the content of solid-not-fat (SNF), specific gravity, pH value, lactic acid, Coliform count and total plate count of colony forming unit among four divisions in Gulu City. There was no discernible (p > 0.05) difference in protein as well as fat content for milk sampled from the study divisions. In conclusion, smallholder dairy farmers in Gulu City conduct limited recommended key practices for raw milk production leading to compromised microbiological and physico-chemical quality. Further research is needed on in-depth analysis of the different species of micro-organisms in raw milk from both local and exotic breeds of dairy cattle under the smallholder farming system in Northern Uganda.
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    The Relationship between Cultural Norms and Food Security in the Karamoja Sub-Region of Uganda
    (Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 2017) Olum, Solomon; Okello-Uma, Ipolto; Tumuhimbise, Gaston A.; Taylor, David; Ongeng, Duncan
    Culture is a strong determinant of food security through its influence on what society considers acceptable for consumption. Karamoja sub-region is one of the most ethnically diverse parts of eastern Africa, and is associated with the highest levels of food insecurity in Uganda. However, there is a general lack of understanding on the extent to which ethnicity is a contributing factor to food insecurity. We examined the relationship between ethnicity and food security in relation to commonly practiced cultural norms among the Jie, Karamojong and Tepeth ethnic groups of Karamoja. Data from 273 randomly selected households across a range of cultural settings were obtained using structured questionnaires in the September-October (2015) period. Food security status was assessed using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), daily calorie intake and coping strategy index. The study also used focus group discussions to assess the implications for food security of common cultural practices. Results confirm the general observation that the sub-region is food insecure. There were also significant variations in food security across geographical location and ethnicity. Cultural restrictions, applied particularly to women and children, over the consumption of several nutritious foods from livestock were revealed. Consumption of raw milk and animal blood, potential sources of food-borne infections and thus of malnutrition, was found to be high in the sub-region and varied significantly across ethnicity. The findings provide a basis for interventions aimed at reducing food insecurity and averting cultural impediments to a more nutritious diet.
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    The Status of Nutritional Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Associated with Complementary Feeding in A Post-Conflict Development Phase Setting: The Case of Acholi Sub-Region of Uganda
    (Food science & nutrition, 2018) Nassanga, Prossy; Okello-Uma, Ipolto; Ongeng, Duncan
    Inappropriate complementary feeding is an important challenge to proper child nutrition in post-conflict rural areas in many sub-Saharan African countries. While in protected areas during conflict situation and soon after during recovery, communities normally receive nutrition education as part of capacity building to improve knowledge, attitude, and practices to enable them manage maternal and child nutrition issues during the post-conflict development phase. It is largely unknown whether capacity in nutrition provided is maintained and adequately applied in the post-conflict development situation. Using Acholi sub-region of Uganda, an area that experienced violent armed conflict for 20 years (mid-80s–early 2000), as a case study, we examined the status of nutritional knowledge, attitude, and practices associated with complementary feeding among caregivers of 6- to 23-month-old children in a post-conflict development phase following return to normalcy nearly 10 years post-conflict emergency situation. The results showed that a high proportion of caregivers had good knowledge (88%) and attitude (90.1%) toward complementary feeding. However, only a half (50%) of them practiced correct nutrition behavior. Education status of the household head and sex of the child significantly predicted caregiver knowledge on complementary feeding (p ≤ 0.05). Education status of the household head also predicted caregiver attitude toward complementary feeding (p ≤ 0.05). Poverty, food insecurity, and maternal ill health were the major factors that hindered caregivers from practicing good complementary feeding behavior. These results demonstrate that nutrition education on complementary feeding provided to the community during conflict emergency and recovery situation is largely retained in terms of knowledge and attitude but poorly translated into good child feeding practices due to poverty, food insecurity, and maternal ill health. Maternal health, food security, and poverty reduction should be prioritized if adequate complementary feeding is to be achieved among conflict-affected communities in the post-conflict development phase.