Research Publications (Human Ecology and Dietetics)

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The association between the body mass index of first-year female university students and their weight-related perceptions and practices, psychological health, physical activity and other physical health indicators
(Cambridge University Press, 2006) Cilliers, Janetta; Senekal, Marjanne; Kunneke, Ernesta
To investigate the association between the weight status of first-year female students (FYFS) and various weight management-related characteristics to identify possible components of a weight management programme for students. Mean (^standard deviation (SD)) body mass index (BMI) of the FYFS was 21.8 ^ 2.6 kg m22 , with 7.2% being underweight, 81.9% normal-weight, 10.0% overweight and 0.8% obese. Underweight, normal-weight and overweight students differed with regard to their perception of their weight (P , 0.001), weight goals (P , 0.001) and previous weight-loss practices (P , 0.001). Mean ^ SD score on the 26-item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) was 8.5 ^ 9.0 with 8.4% classified as high scorers. Mean ^ SD score on the 34-item Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) was 87.7 ^ 32.2, with 76.1% classified as low, 11.9% as medium and 11.9% as high scorers. The self-concept questionnaire indicated that 36.7% had a high, 43.9% a medium and 19.4% a low self-concept. Higher BMI correlated with a higher BSQ score (P , 0.001), a lower self-concept (P ¼ 0.029) and a higher EAT-26 score (P , 0.001). Smoking was prevalent amongst 13.1% of students, and 51.2% used vitamin and/or mineral supplements. Students who quitted smoking had higher (P ¼ 0.006) BMI (22.7 ^ 2.9 kg m22 ) than those who never smoked before (21.6 ^ 2.5 kg m22 ).
Food insecurity and dietary deprivation: Migrant households in Nairobi, Kenya
(MDPI, 2023) Onyango, Elizabeth Opiyo; Crush, Jonathan S.; Owuor, Samuel
The current study focuses on food consumption and dietary diversity among internal migrant households in Kenya using data from a city-wide household survey of Nairobi conducted in 2018. The paper examined whether migrant households are more likely to experience inferior diets, low dietary diversity, and increased dietary deprivation than their local counterparts. Second, it assesses whether some migrant households experience greater dietary deprivation than others. Third, it analyses whether rural-urban links play a role in boosting dietary diversity among migrant households. Length of stay in the city, the strength of rural-urban links, and food transfers do not show a significant relationship with greater dietary diversity. Better predictors of whether a household is able to escape dietary deprivation include education, employment, and household income. Food price increases also decrease dietary diversity as migrant households adjust their purchasing and consumption patterns.
Wild and indigenous foods (wif) and urban food security in northern Namibia
(Urban Forum, 2023) Crush, Jonathan S; Nickanor, Ndeyapo M; Kazembe, Lawrence N
Rapid urbanisation and food system transformation in Africa have been accompanied by growing food insecurity, reduced dietary diversity, and an epidemic of non-communicable disease. While the contribution of wild and indigenous foods (WIF) to the quality of rural household diets has been the subject of longstanding attention, research on their consumption and role among urban households is more recent. This paper provides a case study of the consumption of WIF in the urban corridor of northern Namibia with close ties to the surrounding rural agricultural areas. The research methodology involved a representative household food security sur vey of 851 urban households using tablets and ODK Collect. The key methods for data analysis included descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression. The main findings of the analysis included the fact that WIFs are consumed by most households, but with markedly different frequencies. Frequent consumers of WIF are most likely to be female-centred households, in the lowest income quintiles, and with the highest lived poverty. Frequent consumption is not related to food security, but is higher in households with low dietary diversity. Infrequent or occasional consumers tend to be higher-income households with low lived poverty and higher levels of food security. We conclude that frequent consumers use WIF to diversify their diets and that occasional consumers eat WIF more for reasons of cultural preference and taste than necessity. Recommendations for future research include the nature of the supply chains that bring WIF to urban consumers, intra-household consumption of WIF, and in-depth interviews about the reasons for household consumption of WIF and preferences for certain types of wild food.
Impact of body composition analysis on male sexual function : A metabolic age study
(Frontiers in Endocrinology, 2023-01) Leisegang, Kristian; Henkel, Ralf; Majzoub, Ahmad; Elbardisi, Haitham; Madani, Sarah; Mahdi, Mohamed; Agarwal, Ashok; Khalafalla, Kareim; Alsaid, Sami; Arafa, Mohamed
Metabolic Age (MetAge) and body composition analysis may reflect an individual’s metabolic status, which is believed to influence male sexual and gonadal functions. Although erectile dysfunction (ED) and hypogonadism are increasingly prevalent with age, they are also detected among younger men. This study aims to assess the impact of MetAge and body composition on male sexual and gonadal status overall, and particularly in men younger than 40 years of age.
Remote robotic surgery: joint placement and scheduling of vnf-fgs
(IFIP, 2022) Glitho, Roch H.; Hentati, Amina; Ebrahimzadeh, Amin; Belqasmi, Fatna; Mizouni, Rabeb
Remote robotic surgery is one of the most interesting Tactile Internet (TI) applications. It has a huge potential to deliver healthcare services to remote locations. Moreover, it provides better precision and accuracy to diagnose and operate on patients. Remote robotic surgery requires ultra-low latency and ultra-high reliability. The aforementioned stringent requirements do not apply for all the multimodal data traffic (i.e., audio, video, and haptic) triggered during a surgery session. Hence, customizing resource allocation policies according to the different quality-of-service (QoS) requirements is crucial in order to achieve a cost-effective deployment of such system. In this paper, we focus on resource allocation in a softwarized 5G-enabled TI remote robotic surgery system through the use of Network Functions Virtualization (NFV). Specifically, this work is devoted to the joint placement and scheduling of application components in an NFV-based remote robotic surgery system, while considering haptic and video data. The problem is formulated as an integer linear program (ILP). Due to its complexity, we propose a greedy algorithm to solve the developed ILP in a computationally efficient manner. The simulation results show that our proposed algorithm is close to optimal and outperforms the benchmark solutions in terms of cost and admission rate. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that splitting application traffic to multiple VNF-forwarding graphs (VNF-FGs) with different QoS requirements achieves a significant gain in terms of cost and admission rate compared to modeling the whole application traffic with one VNF-FG having the most stringent requirements. URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=9964591&isnumber=9964490
Feature Reduction for the Classification of Bruise Damage to Apple Fruit Using a Contactless FT-NIR Spectroscopy with Machine Learning
(MDPI, 202) Isingizwe, F; Hussein, E; Vaccari, M; Umezuruike, L
Spectroscopy data are useful for modelling biological systems such as predicting quality parameters of horticultural products. However, using the wide spectrum of wavelengths is not practical in a production setting. Such data are of high dimensional nature and they tend to result in complex models that are not easily understood. Furthermore, collinearity between different wavelengths dictates that some of the data variables are redundant and may even contribute noise. The use of variable selection methods is one efficient way to obtain an optimal model, andthis was the aim of this work. Taking advantage of a non-contact spectrometer, near infrared spectral data in the range of 800–2500 nm were used to classify bruise damage in three apple cultivars, namely ‘Golden Delicious’, ‘Granny Smith’ and ‘Royal Gala’. Six prominent machine learning classification algorithms were employed, and two variable selection methods were used to determine the most relevant wavelengths for the problem of distinguishing between bruised and non-bruised fruit. The selected wavelengths clustered around 900 nm, 1300 nm, 1500 nm and 1900 nm. The best results were achieved using linear regression and support vector machine based on up to 40 wavelengths: these methods reached precision values in the range of 0.79–0.86, which were all comparable (within error bars) to a classifier based on the entire range of frequencies. The results also provided an open-source based framework that is useful towards the development of multi-spectral applications such as rapid grading of apples based on mechanical damage, and it can also be emulated and applied for other types of defects on fresh produce.
The benefits of informed non-dissent when families have difficulty making a decision
(Université de Montréal, 2022) Nortje, Mila; Haque, Sajid; Nortje, Nico
Being a surrogate decision-maker is challenging for many people and having to decide to withdraw life sustaining therapies can be extremely difficult. Helping surrogates to refocus their decisions on informed non-dissent can greatly minimize unnecessary suffering for all involved. This case study describes how dignitary harm was minimized by using the concept of informed non-dissent.
Exploring the affordances of e-learning technologies for dietetics education and training
(South African Medical Association, 2019) Wilkenson, Jill
Lecturers in health science education programmes wear many hats. Their undergraduate training prepares them to deliver healthcare services as clinicians. They may enter academia as clinical educators and then advance to become classroom-based teachers. It is frequently assumed that they are equipped to fulfil the role of teacher. This was certainly the route that I followed. As a digital immigrant, my standard teaching tools were lectures supported by text-laden PowerPoint presentations. The realisation dawned that this approach was failing to meet the expectations of digital-age students – it not only favoured student passivity, but was also a missed opportunity to demonstrate responsible use of technology for communicating information to colleagues and clients in the workplace.
Nutrition, oral health and the young child
(Wiley Open Access, 2007) Naidoo, Sudeshni; Myburgh, Neil
Oral health is integral to general health and essential to well-being and quality of life. Socio-behavioural and environmental factors play a significant role in oral disease and oral health.Dental caries is a global disease with few populations exempt from its effects. In developingcountries, as development increases so does dental caries and children are at the forefront of thedisease disadvantage. There is a growing need to identify high caries risk groups accurately tocommence prevention from a young age.The effect of early intervention in childhood on generaland dental health with both population and high-risk approaches also needs examining. As aneducational tool, the paediatric food-based dietary guidelines may play a significant role innutrition and oral health interventions. This paper provides information on nutrition, includingaccess to fluoride and use of sugar.Oral health concerns,such as early childhood caries,which areimportant for the young child, are also discussed.
Nutrient density and cost of commonly consumed foods: A South African perspective
(Cambridge University Press, 2022) Madlala, Samukelisiwe S; Hill, Jillian; Kunneke, Ernesta; Faber, Mieke
Food-based dietary guidelines promote consumption of a variety of nutritious foods for optimal health and prevention of chronic disease. However, adherence to these guidelines is challenging because of high food costs. The present study aimed to determine the nutrient density of foods relative to cost in South Africa, with the aim to identify foods within food groups with the best nutritional value per cost. A checklist of 116 food items was developed to record the type, unit, brand and cost of foods. Food prices were obtained from the websites of three national supermarkets and the average cost per 100 g edible portion was used to calculate cost per 100 kcal (418 kJ) for each food item. Nutrient content of the food items was obtained from the South African Food Composition Tables. Nutrient density was calculated using the Nutrient Rich Food (NRF9.3) Index. Nutrient density relative to cost was calculated as NRF9.3/price per 100 kcal. Vegetables and fruits had the highest NRF9.3 score and cost per 100 kcal. Overall, pulses had the highest nutritional value per cost. Fortified maizemeal porridge and bread had the best nutritional value per cost within the starchy food group. Foods with the least nutritional value per cost were fats, oils, foods high in fat and sugar, and foods and drinks high in sugar. Analysis of nutrient density and cost of foods can be used to develop tools to guide low-income consumers to make healthier food choices by identifying foods with the best nutritional value per cost.
Introduction to urban food security in the Global South
(Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., 2022) Crush, Jonathan; Frayne, Bruce; Haysom, Gareth
This volume addresses the connections between three transformative processes in the Global South. First, the South is undergoing a rapid urban transition fueled by natural population increase and migration. Second, the cities of the South have witnessed major changes in the ways in which their food supply is organized, including new linkages to global processing and distribution networks and incorporation into global food markets. Third, there is a major upsurge in levels of food insecurity in the cities of the South. Undernutrition and overnutrition are both rising in most cities and towns. The chapters in this interdisciplinary volume provide new insights into these global processes and how they are experienced and responded to at the local level.
Effect of different front-of-package food labels on identification of unhealthy products and intention to purchase the products– A randomised controlled trial in South Africa
(Elsevier, 2022) Bopape, Makoma; Murukutla, Nandita; Wen Ng, Shu
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different labels on participants identifying products high in nutrients of concern; identifying unhealthy products, and intention to purchase unhealthy products. This blinded randomised controlled trial included a representative sample of South African households (n = 1951). Per household we selected a member primarily responsible for food purchases. Participants were randomised into the Warning Label (WL), Guideline Dietary Amounts (GDA) or Multiple Traffic Light (MTL) arms. Each participant answered questions in a no label condition (control) followed by same questions in the label condition (experiment). Complete data were collected and analysed for 1948 participants (WL = 33.7%, GDA = 32.1% and MTL = 34.2%). The probability of correctly identifying products high in nutrients of concern and identifying products as being unhealthy was higher with the WL compared to the GDA or MTL for most items. There was no difference in performance between the GDA and the MTL when considering all items together. A higher percentage of participants reported a lower intention to purchase an unhealthy product after exposure to the WL compared to MTL for 5 out of 6 products; 2 out of 6 products for the WL compared to GDA and 2 out of 6 products for GDA compared to MTL. Compared to the control condition, exposure to each of the labels resulted in better identification of nutrients of concern, unhealthy products and a lower intention to purchase when considering all specific outcome items together. The WL showed a higher potential to enable South African consumers to identify products high in nutrients of concern, identify unhealthy products and discourage purchasing of unhealthy products.
Decent employment and the future of agriculture. How dominant narratives prevent addressing structural issues
(Frontiers Media, 2022) Losch, Bruno
Decent employment in agriculture is part of the general narrative about working conditions. It is an unquestionable objective but its position high in the international agenda contributes to sideline major structural issues faced by many agricultures around the world. This is particularly the case in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, which represent about 90% of global agricultural workers, and where agriculture still plays a major role in employment and the economy. Different trajectories of structural transformation and rates of demographic growth result in different employment challenges which are central for possible improvement of work conditions in agriculture.
Dietary diversity and its association with nutritional status, cardiometabolic risk factors and food choices of adults at risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus in Cape Town, South Africa
(MDPI, 2022) Madlala, Samukelisiwe S.; Hill, Jillian; Kunneke, Ernesta
In South Africa, the nutrition transition has led to unhealthy diets lacking variety, contributing to the rise in overweight, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases. Using baseline screening data of the South African Diabetes Prevention Programme (SA-DPP) study, this study aims to determine the relationship of dietary diversity (DD) with nutritional status, cardiometabolic risk factors and food choices of adults at risk of type 2 diabetes in resource-poor communities around Cape Town. Data of 693 adults, 25–65 years old were analysed. This included socio-demographic information, anthropometric measurements, biochemical assessments, food groups consumed the previous day and consumption frequency of certain foods to reflect food choices.
Retail cost and energy adjusted cost are associated with dietary diversity and nutrient adequacy for diets of 6–24 months children
(MDPI, 2022) Mulabisano, Tshavhuyo A.; Laubscher, Ria; Hoffman, Marinel
Poor nutrition during the first two years of life has long term consequences, but resourcepoor households often do not have the means to access nutrient-dense and diverse diets. Pooled data of 24-h dietary recalls (n = 3336) and 2019 retail food prices were analyzed to determine associations of retail cost and energy cost (per 100 kcal) with diet quality indicators for diets of 6–24-monthold South African children who were breastfed (BF-diet) and not breastfed (NBF-diet) during the 24-h recall period. Compared to the BF-diet, retail cost for the NBF-diet was three times higher for age 6–11 months, and double for age 12–17 months.
Somatic‑Immune Cells Crosstalk In‑The‑Making of Testicular Immune Privilege
(Springer, 2021) Dutta, S; Sandhu, N; Sengupta, P; Alves, M.G
Immunological infertility contributes significantly to the etiology of idiopathic male infertility. Shielding the spermatogenic cells from systemic immune responses is fundamental to secure normal production of spermatozoa. The body’s immune system is tuned with the host self-components since the early postnatal period, while sperm first develops during puberty, thus rendering spermatogenic proteins as ‘non-self’ or ‘antigenic.’ Development of antibodies to these antigens elicits autoimmune responses affecting sperm motility, functions, and fertility. Therefore, the testes need to establish a specialized immune-privileged microenvironment to protect the allogenic germ cells by orchestration of various testicular cells and resident immune cells. This is achieved through sequestration of antigenic germ cells by blood–testis barrier and actions of various endocrine, paracrine, immune-suppressive, and immunomodulatory mechanisms. The various mechanisms are very complex and need conceptual integration to disclose the exact physiological scenario, and to facilitate detection and management of immunogenic infertility caused by disruption of testicular immune regulation. The present review aims to (a) discuss the components of testicular immune privilege; (b) explain testicular somatic and immune cell interactions in establishing and maintaining the testicular immune micro-environment; and (c) illustrate the integration of multiple mechanisms involved in the control of immune privilege of the testis.
South Africa’s health promotion Levy on pricing and acquisition of beverages in small stores and supermarkets
(Cambridge University Press, 2022) Ross, Alexandra; Swart, Elizabeth C; Frank, Tamryn
In response to concern over rising sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption, in April 2018, South Africa became the first Sub-Saharan African (SSA) country to implement an SSB tax. We assess changes in pricing and acquisition of beverages from local supermarkets and small stores among 18–39-year-old adults living in one township in the Western Cape, before and after tax implementation. This study is among the first evaluations of an SSB tax on the local food environment in a low-income township.
Operational framework for rural hospitals during a pandemic
(Taylor and Francis, 2021) Nortje, Nico; Jones-Bonofiglio, Kristen; Haque, Sajid
It is now evident that a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has developed. The unfortunate reality is that those in rural areas may be impacted the hardest. Ethical decision making may look the same for rural areas as urban areas, but this is far from accurate. This practice article is focused on why the challenges are different and how rural hospitals might manage their unique circumstances and constraints. A step-wise decision-making framework is also proposed.
A practical approach to hospital visitation during a pandemic: Responding with compassion to unjustified restrictions
(American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2021) Jones-Bonofiglio, Kristen Dawn; Nortje, Nico; Webster, Laura Bentley
During the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence-based resources have been sought to support decision-making and strategically inform hospitals’ policies, procedures, and practices. While greatly emphasizing protection, most guiding documents have neglected to support and protect the psychosocial needs of frontline health care workers and patients and their families during provision of palliative and end-oflife care. Consequently, the stage has been set for increased anxiety, moral distress, and moral injury and extreme moral hazard. A family-centered approach to care has been unilaterally relinquished to a secondary and nonessential role during the current crisis. This phenomenon violates a foundational public health principle, namely, to apply the least restrictive means to achieve good for the many. Instead, there has been widespread adoption of utilitarian and paternalistic approaches. In many cases the foundational principles of palliative care have also been neglected. No circumstance, even a global public health emergency, should ever cause health care providers to deny their ethical obligations and human commitment to compassion. The lack of responsive protocols for family visitation, particularly at the end of life, is an important gap in the current recommendations for pandemic triage and contingency planning. A stepwise approach to hospital visitation using a tiered, standardized process for responding to emerging clinical circumstances and individual patients’ needs should be considered, following the principle of proportionality.
When hanging on at all costs is the only option
(Programmes de Bioethique, 2021) Walther-Broussard, Laura; Meyer, Tiffany; Nortjé, Nico
Having hope that a terminally ill patient may recover is not an unfamiliar sight in intensive care units across the globe. However, cultural heritage may make it even tougher. This fictional case study, which is a collection of years of experience, addresses decision-making within the Chinese Immigrant culture and focusses on how this may influence the care team. A new initiative, the Goals of Care (GOC) team, is also described.

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