Department of Development Studies, School of Public Health and Social Sciences, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam P.O. Box 65001, Tanzania.
Leicester School of Allied Health Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK.
Nutrients. 2024 May 21;16(11):1551. doi: 10.3390/nu16111551.
Undernutrition among under-fives is one of the major public health challenges in Tanzania. However, there are limited studies assessing the contribution of cultural-related strategies in the prevention of child undernutrition in Tanzania. This study aimed at exploring participants' experiential views regarding developing culturally sensitive strategies for the elimination of child undernutrition for under-fives in Rukwa, Iringa, Ruvuma, Songwe and Njombe regions located in the Southern Highlands in Tanzania. This study applied focus group discussions (FGDs) with forty practitioners to explore culturally-sensitive strategies for effectively preventing child undernutrition in Tanzania. The study participants were purposively selected, and thematic analysis was used to identify themes within the data. This study revealed that district- and lower-level administrative systems should prioritize nutrition interventions in their plans, allocating adequate resources to implement culturally sensitive nutrition interventions, while national-level organs need to strengthen institutional capacity and ensure the availability of funds, skilled human resources and a legal framework for the effective implementation and sustainability of nutrition interventions at the district- and lower-levels. This study highlights that for the successful implementation of culturally sensitive strategies towards the elimination of child undernutrition, there is a need to use a systems approach that allows for collaborative governance whereby different sectors act together to address the persistent malnutrition epidemic.
五岁以下儿童营养不良是坦桑尼亚主要的公共卫生挑战之一。然而，关于评估文化相关策略在坦桑尼亚预防儿童营养不良方面的作用的研究有限。本研究旨在探讨参与者对在坦桑尼亚南部高地的鲁夸、伊林加、鲁伍马、松威和恩琼贝地区制定针对五岁以下儿童的文化敏感性策略以消除儿童营养不良的经验性看法。本研究采用焦点小组讨论（FGD）的方式，对 40 名从业者进行了调查，以探讨在坦桑尼亚有效预防儿童营养不良的文化敏感性策略。研究参与者是经过精心挑选的，主题分析用于确定数据中的主题。本研究表明，地区和更低层次的行政系统应在其计划中优先考虑营养干预措施，为实施文化敏感的营养干预措施分配足够的资源，而国家一级的机构需要加强机构能力，并确保资金、熟练人力资源和法律框架的可用性，以有效地在地区和更低层次实施和维持营养干预措施。本研究强调，为了成功实施针对消除儿童营养不良的文化敏感性策略，需要采用一种系统方法，允许协作治理，使不同部门共同努力解决持续存在的营养不良流行问题。
