Nutrition knowledge, attitudes and practices of primary school children in Tshwane Metropole, South Africa

Background: The increasing prevalence of being overweight and obesity in South African school children requires interventions that are evidence based. Nutrition knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) studies are thus needed to provide evidence for the planning of interventions that address and prevent nutrition problems in school children. Aim: The aim of the study on which this article is based was to assess nutrition knowledge, attitudes and practices of grade 4­6 learners from three primary schools in a South African township. The article seeks to highlight the key results of this quantitative study. Setting: The study took place in three primary schools in Mamelodi township, Pretoria, South Africa. Methods: Data were collected from grade 4­6 learners using self-administered questionnaires. After coding and collating data using Epi info TM, STATA was then used for analysis. A description of KAP results was carried out using simple descriptive statistics, while the associations were tested using a chi-square test. Results: Learners displayed inadequate knowledge of a balanced diet (23%) as well as low knowledge of food groups. With regard to attitudes, the most liked food group was the drinks and snacks (72.9%), while the least liked food group was the fruits and vegetables (8.11%). With regard to practices, the most frequently consumed food group was the drinks and snacks (72.6%), while fruits and vegetables were the least consumed. However, 78.91% of the learners displayed very good nutrition-related practices, such as making their own breakfast and eating breakfast. Conclusion: The inadequate knowledge displayed by learners indicates a gap with nutrition education in the curriculum. There is a need to explore innovative and novel approaches to improve nutrition knowledge of school children. Parents also need to be targeted to ensure better outcomes

Community health workers in Lesotho: experiences of health promotion activities

Background: Lesotho adopted primary health care in 1979, and community health workers (CHWs) were included in the programme to focus on health promotion, particularly to reach people in underserved rural areas. Although the CHW programme has been successful, the heavy burden of disease because of HIV and/or AIDS and tuberculosis shifted resources from health promotion to home-based care. Aim: The study explored the lived experience of CHWs in conducting health promotion activities in Lesotho.Setting: The study was conducted in four health centres in Berea district, Lesotho. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted using an interviewer guide translated from English into Sesotho for four CHW focus group discussions, four individual interviews of key informants and four semi-structured interviews with the health centre nurses.Results: The roles of CHWs in health promotion ranged from offering basic first aid and home-based care to increasing access to health care services by taking patients to the facilities and promoting behaviour change through health education. Their perceived successes included increased access to health care services and reduced mortality rates. CHW challenges involved their demotivation to carry out their work because of lack of or inconsistent financial incentives and supplies, work overload which compromises quality of their work and limited community involvement.Conclusion: This study concludes that CHWs are beneficial to health promotion and its various activities. They had a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities, although they did not fully comprehend that what they were describing was, in fact, health promotion. When it came to advocacy, CHWs did not fully understand it, nor did they consider it as part of their roles, although they acknowledged its importance. Their role of increasing access to health care services by accompanying patients to the facilities has increased considerably because of changes in disease burden. This is affecting their ability to practise other health promotion activities which focus on disease prevention