Food Consumption Practices of Women and Obesity in Urban Uganda

Abstract

The last national demographic and health survey in Uganda found that nearly two of every 10 women living in Kampala capital city and the surrounding urban areas in Mukono and Wakiso districts were obese. This study aimed to clarify how food consumption practices are indicated in the obesity of women in urban Uganda. Measurement of weight and height, interviews and intensive 7-day observation of 14 women in August and September of 2018 was complemented by interview data collected between February 2016 and September 2017 among 540 women. Results showed that the number of eating occasions was limited, the timing was later in the day, and both were irregular. This was associated with the difficulties in acquiring food, the time required to prepare a meal, and the chores women needed to accomplish. Daily energy intake varied from one day to the next, but the net average was high–2,430 kcal (SD = 694) and exceeded the daily energy requirements. Most of the energy came from the second main eating occasion and from large portions of the main staple foods and sauces. Perceptions of ideal food consumption practices, and of the drivers of food consumption practices, were influenced by long-standing habits in the individual homes and communities where they were brought up, and by the women’s past and present experiences of instability in food availability and access. Efforts to foster stability in food security across the life course could therefore be instrumental in neutralizing the sociocultural risk factors for obesity among women in urban Uganda.