When Eating Becomes Torturous: Understanding Nutrition-Related Cancer Treatment Side Effects among Individuals with Cancer and Their Caregivers

Individuals living with cancer often experience multiple nutrition-related side effects from cancer treatment, including changes in taste and smell, nausea, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and pain during eating. These side effects can profoundly impact nutritional status and quality of life. The purpose of this study was to explore experiences with nutrition-related cancer treatment side effects among cancer patients and their family caregivers, the way they manage such side effects, and the resulting changes in food preferences and behaviors. Structured surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted. Interviews focused on the presence and management of treatment side effects, how those changes influenced food preferences, and the extent to which they interfered with quality of life. Most patients (72%) reported treatment side effects; 61% reported that these side effects impacted their eating and drinking. Common side effects included fatigue (58%), dry mouth (30%), nausea (24%), constipation (20%) and diarrhea (20%). Six overarching qualitative themes were identified: Spiral of side effects; Pain of eating; Burden of eating; Loss of taste/change in taste; Symptom management; and Solutions. The authors conclude with implications for food and nutrition practice—moving beyond traditional recommendations of what to eat or avoid—to consider the overall patient and caregiver experience.

Economic Analysis of Smallholder Dairy Cattle Enterprises In Senegal

Smallholder dairy production in Senegal is important to both livelihoods and food and nutrition security. Here we examine the economic performance of smallholder dairy cattle enterprises in Senegal, using data from longitudinal monitoring of 113 households. The mean (and standard deviation) of the net returns (NR) per cow per annum (pcpa) was 21.7 (202.9) USD, whilst the NR per household herd per annum (phpa) was 106.1 (1740.3) USD. Only about half (52.2 %) of the dairy cattle enterprise had a positive NR. The most significant income components were milk sale followed by animal sale, whilst the most significant cost components were animal feed followed by animal purchase. When households were grouped by ranking on NRpcpa an interesting trend was observed: whilst the mean NRpcpa showed a fairly linear increase from the lowest to highest NR groups, income and cost did not. Income and costs were both higher for the lowest and highest NR groups, in comparison to the intermediate NR groups. The mean NRs of households grouped by the main breed-type they kept were not significantly different from each other, due to large variances within the breed groups. However, the mean total income and costs were significantly higher for households mainly keeping improved dairy breeds (Bos taurus or Zebu x Bos taurus crosses) in comparison to those keeping indigenous Zebu or Zebu by Guzerat crosses. This study highlights the highly variable (and often low) profitability of smallholder dairy cattle enterprise in Senegal. Further actions to address this are strongly recommended.

Prospects of fish supply-demand and its implications for food and nutrition security in Egypt

Aquaculture plays an increasingly important role in meeting the rising global demand for fish fuelled by economic and demographic growth. However, in many middle income countries, the growth of aquaculture is constrained by rising labor costs, limited input supply, environmental concerns, and infectious diseases. In this paper, we developed a multi species, multi sector equilibrium model and applied it to the fishery sector of Egypt, a leading aquaculture producer in Africa, to examine these barriers. Projection results show that rising wage rates would slow down the growth of labour-intensive aquaculture compared to those that use relatively less labour. The demand for feed, seed inputs and water use for aquaculture would substantially increase. The results also show that disease outbreaks would possibly affect production sectors via output reduction and also consumers via increases in fish price. Our findings suggest that stabilising the prices of feed and seed, investments in disease control and input use efficiency improvement technologies, including water use, are important while the overall effectiveness of tax instruments is modest. Though calibrated to Egypt, our approach can be applied to other middle size national aquaculture industries.

Examining Elementary School Children’s Knowledge about Food and Nutrition in Southwestern Ontario, Canada

Purpose: Knowledge is fundamental to helping children make nutritional choices that support lifelong healthy behaviours. This study (i) investigates elementary school children’s knowledge about food and nutrition and (ii) identifies sociodemographic factors influencing children’s reported knowledge. Methods: In 2017–2019, a survey was administered to 2443 students (grades 5–8) at 60 schools across southwestern Ontario, Canada, and a parent survey was used to validate self-reported sociodemographics. Multiple regression was used to analyse children’s knowledge scores and related sociodemographic factors. A total knowledge score was calculated by summing correct responses derived from 46 individual questions in the student survey. Results: Mean total knowledge score was 29.2 out of a possible 46 points (63.5% correct). Students demonstrated some knowledge and awareness of strategies to encourage fruit and vegetable consumption, healthy food selection, nutrition, and food preparation skills, although knowledge of food guide recommendations and locally sourced produce were limited. Female sex, family income, and rurality were associated with higher knowledge scores. Conclusions: Results provide insight regarding strengths and gaps in elementary-school children’s food and nutrition knowledge. Poor performance of students on specific food guide-related questions suggests that the general guidance of the 2019 Canada’s Food Guide might be better understood by children and adolescents.

Sociobiodiversidade e Soberania e Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional como um direito indissociável à alimentação adequada e saudável

A biodiversidade é fundamental para uma vida digna e justa. Assim, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo contextualizar a sociobiodiversidade e Soberania e Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (SSAN) como um direito indissociável à alimentação adequada e saudável. As buscas foram realizadas no Portal de periódicos CAPES, FSTA – Food Science and Technology Science Direct, SciELO, Google Acadêmico, literatura cinzenta e portal de Organização das Nações Unidas (UN), Ministério do Meio Ambiente - MMA, Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition – BFN e legislações especificas. A revisão mostrou a importância de estratégias de sistemas alimentares saudáveis e sustentáveis, mediante ações transversais em políticas de governança para mitigar a injustiça social, impulsionar a econômica dos povos, promover ações de biodiversidade, sustentabilidade e SSAN como direito à alimentação adequada e saudável. Essas ações promovem a geração de emprego, renda e melhor qualidade de vida das famílias de agricultores, às comunidades tradicionais, produtores agroecológicos e assentados da reforma agrária que tem a terra como seu sustento. Além disso, promovem o meio ambiente sustentável como meta para ODS 2030, contribuindo para a humanidade enfrentar os desafios, em âmbito global, da injustiça social como direito à alimentação adequada e saudável.

Pigmented Potatoes: A Potential Panacea for Food and Nutrition Security and Health?

Although there are over 4000 potato cultivars in the world, only a few have been commercialized due to their marketability and shelf-life. Most noncommercialized cultivars are pigmented and found in remote regions of the world. White-fleshed potatoes are well known for their energy-enhancing complex carbohydrates; however, pigmented cultivars are potentially high in health-promoting polyphenolic compounds. Therefore, we reveal the comprehensive compositions of pigmented cultivars and associated potential health benefits, including their potential role in ameliorating hunger, food, and nutrition insecurity, and their prospects. The underutilization of such resources is a direct threat to plant-biodiversity and local traditions and cultures.

Gender and Generational Differences in Local Knowledge and Preference for Food Trees in Central Uganda and Eastern Kenya

Food trees contribute substantially to the food and nutrition security of millions of rural households in Africa. Farming communities prioritize tree and shrub species on farms based on a combination of factors, including their knowledge of potential uses the species' economic potential and a range of constraints and opportunities that each farmer faces depending on their position within the community and the household, in cultivating, harvesting and processing tree products. Gender and age are strong determinants of such constraints and opportunities as well as ecological knowledge and use of tree resources. This study contributes to the understanding of gender and generational preferences for food tree species that determine their use, and which contribute to food and nutrition security in Central Uganda and Eastern Kenya. Sixteen gender and age segregated focus group discussions were conducted to assess food tree species preferences. A total of 61 food tree species were listed −46 in Uganda (including 16 indigenous species) and 44 in Kenya (21 indigenous species). Results showed knowledge on food tree species differed by gender and age, with differences across gender lines found more prevalently in Uganda, and across generational lines in Kenya. Age-related differences in knowledge and preferences were clear with regard to indigenous species, whereby older women and men were found to have the most knowledge in both countries. Among key challenges for food tree cultivation, farming households mentioned knowledge of tree management, the lack of planting materials, especially for improved varieties, prolonged droughts and scarcity of land. Some of these constraints were gendered and generational, with women mostly mentioning lack of knowledge about planting and management as well as cultural restrictions, such as only having access to land when married; whereas younger men indicated management challenges such as pests, limited markets, as well as scarcity and limited ownership of land. Overall findings suggest that consulting user preferences for food tree species and constraints experienced by gender and age group could be important in the design of interventions which involve a diversity of food trees.

Disruptive Innovations for Well-Functioning Food Systems: The Data-Driven “Food and Nutrition Security Under Climate Evolution” Framework

The current climate crisis poses new uncertainties, risks, and vulnerabilities, and is leading to losses for millions of people depending on fragile food systems. Food systems are, however, vastly different across landscapes and communities, and their capacities to respond to climate impacts evolves and changes through time. Humanitarian and development organizations are struggling to keep pace with these changes. Monitoring a large number of diverse food systems during an evolving climate crisis can be expensive and time-consuming. This paper introduces a monitoring approach that uses a combination of open-source earth observations along with national data sources to produce highly contextualized metrics for monitoring Food And Nutrition Security under Climate Evolution (FANSCE). Entirely data-driven, the FANSCE approach has been designed to produce policy recommendations to help monitor, assess, and mitigate climatic impacts on food systems. We developed and tested this approach in Vietnam, where climate variability has become a growing threat to food systems. Our results show that predictors of food and nutrition security differ drastically with the intensity of climate variability. More specifically, our analyses suggest that in areas of high climate variability, levels of food and nutrition security can be significantly predicted based on economic activities, ethnicity, education, health of mothers, and the level of readiness and preparedness to climate impacts of villages and communities. On the other hand, in areas of low climate variability, food and nutrition security are mostly predictable based on the ability of households to access essential services (such as education, health) and communal resources (water, storage, etc.). To support the resilience of food systems, policymakers must regularly monitor how these dimensions react to the changing climate. Addition critical actions to increase food system sustainability in Vietnam include 1) enhanced coordination of institutional responses and capacities across governmental and non-governmental agencies, and 2) better integration of scientific knowledge into national and sub-national decision-making processes.