Influence of Food Security Status and Anemia-Related Knowledge on Perceptions About 2 Nutritious Underutilized Foods Among Ghanaian Caregivers

Abstract

Background: Nutritious underutilized foods (NUFs) significantly contribute to sustainable dietary diversity but are often unused for many reasons. Objective: We assessed the influence of food security status (FSS) and anemia-related knowledge (ARK) on perceptions about Solanum torvum (turkey berry) and Rhynchophorus phoenicis Fabricius (palm weevil larvae) among Ghanaian caregivers. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 891 caregivers (aged 20-49 years), who have children 6 to 59 months old, from Upper Manya Krobo district (Eastern region), Kumasi metropolitan (Ashanti region), Ho municipality (Volta region), La-Nkwantanang-Madina, and Ga West municipality (Greater-Accra region), Ghana. Food security status, ARK, and perceptions about the 2 NUFs were obtained using pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Logistic regression models were used to determine effect of FSS and ARK on perception outcomes. Results: Thirty-six percent of caregivers were food secure, while 13.9%, 28.4%, and 21.7%, respectively, were mildly, moderately, and severely food insecure. Most caregivers (62.0%) scored above 70% on ARK. High favorable perception was significantly lower for palm weevil larvae than that for turkey berry. Food secure caregivers were 4.5 times more likely to have poor favorable perceptions about palm weevil larvae than food insecure caregivers ( P = .03). However, food secure caregivers were 2.9 times more likely to have high favorable perceptions about turkey berry than food insecure caregivers ( P < .001). Caregivers’ knowledge about anemia was associated with high favorable perception about turkey berry by 3.3-fold (95% confidence interval: 2-5.5, P = .001). Conclusions: Nutrition education about turkey berry and palm weevil larvae is needed to encourage their use for promoting nutrient density of complementary and household foods.