Ecology of Food and Nutrition (EFN) promotes scholarly discussion and engagement on the holistic and cross-cultural dimensions of food and nutrition. Articles published in this journal focus on foods and food systems in terms of their utilization to satisfy human nutritional needs and improve health and well-being. The journal also publishes articles that examine how ecological, social, and cultural factors relate to food, food cultures, and nutrition. Only a handful of journals publish articles that explicitly address the intersections of food and nutrition, biology and culture, and policy and practice from a holistic and global perspective. It is this kind of scholarship that EFN seeks to promote. This issue of EFN includes six articles presenting the results of studies conducted in the United States, the Netherlands, Kenya, Puerto Rico, and India. Collectively, the articles included in this issue explore the cultural preference for foods, developing culturally appropriate food preparation and consumption programs, and adolescent food consumption and health.
The article by Valente and colleagues reports the results of a study aimed at understanding the factors influencing people’s choice to follow a diet that is considered healthy. They further explore how an excessive preoccupation with health eating could lead to orthorexia nervosa – an eating disorder that involves a detrimental level of fixation with healthy eating. The researchers used mixed methods (online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews) to collect data on young women in the Netherlands. The researchers identify fear about chronic conditions as a significant driver of obsession with healthy eating. Finally, the researchers discuss how examining excessive preoccupation with healthy eating may be critical to understanding the transition from health eating and obsession.
McElrone et al. report the results of community-based study carried out among Burundian and Congolese refugees to examine the feasibility and acceptability of Pika Pamoja – a culturally adapted cooking curriculum. The researchers used randomized control dyads (youth/mother) to assess key primary outcome measures – feasibility and acceptability of Pika Pamoja among the refugee families. Based on the study results, the authors report that it was feasible to implement Pika Pamoja. The authors recommend large-scale studies to measure the effectiveness of Pika Pamoja to increase food security among refugee families in sub-Saharan Africa.
The article by Lagerkvist and colleagues presents the results of a study assessing the psychosocial predictors of intention to integrate biofortified pro-vitamin A orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) in proper complementary feeding (PCF) among women who received either verbal or verbal and visual demonstration of OFSP-based foods. The researchers collected data using face-to-face interviews with 764 randomly selected women in rural Kenya. Women who participated in the study were grouped into four categories – pregnant women (n = 141), women with infants (n = 197), women with young children (n = 212), and potential mothers (n = 214). The researchers also collected data on household characteristics using a structured questionnaire. Based on a rigorous data analysis, the authors conclude that goal setting, perceived behavior control, subjective norms, and attitudes strongly influenced the mother’s intention to integrate OFSP in PCF.
Correa-Matos and colleagues report the results of a mixed methods (focus group and standardized structured questionnaire) study that was conducted in two phases. In phase one, the researchers examined the barriers to the consumption of dietary fiber-rich foods by adolescents. In the second phase of the project, the researchers designed and implemented cultural and age-specific educational strategies to reduce those barriers to increase the consumption of dietary fiber-rich foods by adolescents in Puerto Rico. The authors report that after a six-week educational program and hands-on activities, study participants showed a significant increase in the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grain cereals.
The article by Sanchez-Flack and Wasserman describes the results of an exploratory study to understand the factors influencing sourcing local produce in Latino-focused food stores in San Diego County, California. The researchers used qualitative methods to collect data from nine local store owners and managers and ten small produce farmers in San Diego County. This study was part of an NIH-funded intervention trial (El Valor de Nuestra Salud), which used structural and social intervention strategies to affect physical and social environment of tiendas (stores) to improve the consumption of fruits and vegetables among Latino customers. The results of this study could help develop a nuanced understanding of the supply chain factors that affect the ability to modify the current food production and delivery system to increase access to locally produced foods in Latino neighborhoods.
Finally, the article by Jain and colleagues examines the breakfast consumption patterns and their effect on serological and body composition parameters among adolescent girls in Punjab, India. The researchers collected interview-based and laboratory-based data on a sample of 500 adolescent girls (16–18 years) from rural and urban government-funded schools in Ludhiana, Punjab. Based on the frequency of breakfast consumption, the researchers grouped sample girls into three groups – regular, occasional, and never breakfast consumers. The results of the study suggest that, as compared to other two groups, a higher percentage of girls in the regular breakfast consumer group had their body mass index (BMI) in the normal range for their weight and height and a comparatively lower percentage of girls with anemia. The authors further discuss the health and clinical implications of their findings.