Institute for Nursing and Nutrition, Faculty of Health, Global Nutrition and Health, University College Copenhagen, Sigurdsgade 26, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, University of Ghana, LG 13 Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Nutrients. 2018 Apr 7;10(4):461. doi: 10.3390/nu10040461.
The Ghanaian population suffers from a double burden of malnutrition. Cost of food is considered a barrier to achieving a health-promoting diet. Food prices were collected in major cities and in rural areas in southern Ghana. Linear programming (LP) was used to calculate nutritionally optimized diets (food baskets (FBs)) for a low-income Ghanaian family of four that fulfilled energy and nutrient recommendations in both rural and urban settings. Calculations included implementing cultural acceptability for families living in extreme and moderate poverty (food budget under USD 1.9 and 3.1 per day respectively). Energy-appropriate FBs minimized for cost, following Food Balance Sheets (FBS), lacked key micronutrients such as iodine, vitamin B12 and iron for the mothers. Nutritionally adequate FBs were achieved in all settings when optimizing for a diet cheaper than USD 3.1. However, when delimiting cost to USD 1.9 in rural areas, wild foods had to be included in order to meet nutritional adequacy. Optimization suggested to reduce roots, tubers and fruits and to increase cereals, vegetables and oil-bearing crops compared with FBS. LP is a useful tool to design culturally acceptable diets at minimum cost for low-income Ghanaian families to help advise national authorities how to overcome the double burden of malnutrition.
加纳人口面临着营养不良的双重负担。食品成本被认为是实现促进健康饮食的障碍。在加纳南部的主要城市和农村地区收集了食品价格。线性规划 (LP) 用于为加纳四口之家的低收入家庭计算营养优化饮食（食品篮 (FB)），以满足农村和城市环境中的能量和营养建议。计算包括为生活在极端贫困和中度贫困中的家庭（食品预算分别低于 1.9 美元和 3.1 美元/天）实施文化可接受性。根据食品平衡表 (FBS)，为降低成本而最小化的能量适宜 FB 缺乏碘、维生素 B12 和铁等关键微量营养素，这些营养素对母亲至关重要。在所有环境中，当优化成本低于 3.1 美元的饮食时，都可以实现营养充足的 FB。然而，在农村地区将成本限制在 1.9 美元时，为了满足营养充足性，必须包括野生食品。与 FBS 相比，优化建议减少根、块茎和水果，增加谷物、蔬菜和含油作物。LP 是一种有用的工具，可以为加纳低收入家庭以最低成本设计文化上可接受的饮食，以帮助建议国家当局如何克服营养不良的双重负担。
