Characteristics of food environments that influence food acquisition and diets of women in low-and middle-income countries: a scoping review protocol

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A new scoping review published in JBI Evidence Synthesis (Jan 2023) has identified and mapped the characteristics of food environments that influence food-acquisition practices and dietary intake of women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries.

The review considered quantitative, qualitative, mixed method or review studies that reported on the influence of food environment characteristics on food-acquisition practices and dietary intakes of women aged 15 to 49 years in any low- and middle-income country, as defined by the World Bank in 2021. Studies published in English, Spanish, Portuguese or French from January 2010 onwards were included.

Due to the disproportionate burden of malnutrition on women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries, accelerated progress in improving women’s nutrition is required to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero hunger) by 2030.

Food environments are increasingly recognized as the key interface between consumers and food systems. However, little is known about the characteristics that influence women’s food acquisition and diets in low- and middle-income countries, especially during physiological stages of heightened nutritional requirement, such as pre-conception, pregnancy, and breastfeeding.

The patterns of food-acquisition and dietary intake in relation to food environment characteristics were charted, mapped and summarized in tabular and graphical formats.

The findings of the study will help to inform the refinement of effective food environment conceptual frameworks for this nutritionally vulnerable group.

The study was carried out by researchers from CQUniversity, the International Livestock Research Institute, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the University of Greenwich and the University of Melbourne.

Citation
O’Meara, L., Bruyn, J. de, Dominguez-Salas, P., Hope, T., Turner, C., Stoynova, M., Wellard, K. and Ferguson, E. 2023. Characteristics of food environments that influence food acquisition and diets of women in low-and middle-income countries: a scoping review protocol. JBI Evidence Synthesis 10.11124.

Photo credit: Stall owners watch over their pork and beef stock in a local wet market, Hanoi, Vietnam (ILRI/Andrew Nguyen)

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