Shahidullah A K M, Islam Anisul, Kendall Lynn
Department of Business Administration, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Grenfell, Corner Brook, NL A2H 5G4, Canada.
Centre for Natural Resource Studies (CNRS), Banani, Dhaka 1213, Bangladesh.
Healthcare (Basel). 2023 Jul 30;11(15):2165. doi: 10.3390/healthcare11152165.
The role of women in promoting the production and consumption of vegetables at a family level towards mitigating the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is crucial. Women not only select and prepare food items consumed by their families but care about the health issues of family members. As research examining this critical role of women is scant, we attempted to understand how women as agro-entrepreneurs can promote vegetables to enhance healthcare situations. A field study was conducted in a northeastern district of Bangladesh from January to June 2019, adopting qualitative-participatory approaches that involved interviews, focus groups, and workshops. The study revealed that women play a vital role in taking care of the health of the family members, while their role in planning the family diet is exclusive. However, they have limited decision-making authority in the production and consumption of vegetables, and their knowledge and perception of NCDs are limited. The results imply that with enhanced capacity of vegetable production and better knowledge of nutrition and NCDs, women can improve family dietary habits by increasing the consumption of vegetables. Therefore, building the agro-entrepreneurial capacities of women in terms of knowledge, skills, access to finance, and decision-making authority at the family level would be a significant interventional approach for increased production and consumption of vegetables. We argue that public health strategies and policies addressing NCDs should incorporate this family-centric approach by promoting agro-entrepreneurship by women who would promote the production and consumption of vegetables.
女性在家庭层面促进蔬菜生产与消费以降低非传染性疾病（NCDs）风险方面的作用至关重要。女性不仅挑选和准备家人食用的食物，还关心家庭成员的健康问题。由于研究女性这一关键作用的资料匮乏，我们试图了解作为农业企业家的女性如何推广蔬菜以改善健康状况。2019年1月至6月在孟加拉国一个东北部地区进行了一项实地研究，采用了包括访谈、焦点小组和研讨会在内的定性参与式方法。研究表明，女性在照顾家庭成员健康方面发挥着至关重要的作用，而她们在规划家庭饮食方面的作用是独一无二的。然而，她们在蔬菜生产和消费方面的决策权有限，对非传染性疾病的知识和认知也有限。结果表明，随着蔬菜生产能力的提高以及对营养和非传染性疾病的了解增多，女性可以通过增加蔬菜消费来改善家庭饮食习惯。因此，在知识、技能、融资渠道和家庭层面决策权方面增强女性的农业创业能力，将是增加蔬菜生产和消费的一项重要干预措施。我们认为，应对非传染性疾病的公共卫生战略和政策应纳入这种以家庭为中心的方法，即通过促进女性从事农业创业来推动蔬菜的生产和消费。
