Important issues for feminist nutrition research – a case study from the savanna of West Africa

SUMMARY Nutrition education usually aims to change the practices of individual mothers. It may divert attention from real problems, increase anxiety or be dangerously inappropriate. This article argues that nutritionists should work at the community, policy and planning levels to create an environment where good nutrition becomes possible. The author describes her experiences with nutrition education, intersectoral cooperation, and nutritional monitoring. She summarises crucial issues for nutritional research and stresses the importance of learning from the mothers and taking their expressed needs as the major research orientation. RESUMEN Problemas importantes para la investigación de la nutrición feminista. Un estudio de caso en la sabana de Africa Occidental En general, la educación en nutrición intenta cambiar las prácticas de las madres a nivel individual. No obstante, puede distraeer la atencion de los problemas reales, incrementar la ansiedad en incluso resultar peligrosamente inadecuada. Este articulo argumenta que los nutricionistas deberian trabajar en los niveles de comunidad, planificación y politica para crear un ambiente en que la buena nutrición sea factible. La autora describe sus experiencias en educación nutricional, cooperación intersectorial y control de nutrición, resumen problemas cruciales para la investigación en esta área y enfatiza la importancia que tiene el aprender de las madres y adoptar sus necesidades explicitas como la orientación principal en la investigación. RESUMES L'importance de la recherche sur la nutrítion fémìnine: une étude de cas particulier dans la Savane d'Afrique de l'Quest L'enseignement de la nutrition a généralernent pour but de changer les habitudes de chaque mére. Il peut détourner l'attention des vrais problèmes augmenter l'anxiété ou être dangereusement inadéquat. Cet article soutient le fait que les hygiénistes alimentaires devraient tiavailler au niveau de la communauté, de la politique et de la planification afin de créer un environnement favorable a la bonne nutrition. L'auteur décrit ses experiences en ce qui concerne l'enseignement de la nutrition. la coopération íntersectorielle et la contrôle nutritionnel. Elle rèsume les points cruciaux pour les chercheurs en nutrition et souligne l'importance d'apprendre a partir des mères et de prendre leurs besoins comme ligne de conduite principale de la recherche

Effect of rye bread breakfasts on subjective hunger and satiety: a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several studies report that dietary fibre from different sources promotes the feeling of satiety and suppresses hunger. However, results for cereal fibre from rye are essentially lacking. The aim of the present study was to investigate subjective appetite during 8 h after intake of iso-caloric rye bread breakfasts varying in rye dietary fibre composition and content.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was divided into two parts. The first part (n = 16) compared the satiating effect of iso-caloric bread breakfasts including different milling fractions of rye (bran, intermediate fraction (B4) and sifted flour). The second part (n = 16) investigated the dose-response effect of rye bran and intermediate rye fraction, each providing 5 or 8 g of dietary fibre per iso-caloric bread breakfast. Both study parts used a wheat bread breakfast as reference and a randomised, within-subject comparison design. Appetite (hunger, satiety and desire to eat) was rated regularly from just before breakfast at 08:00 until 16:00. Amount, type and timing of food and drink intake were standardised during the study period.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The Milling fractions study showed that each of the rye breakfasts resulted in a suppressed appetite during the time period before lunch (08:3012:00) compared with the wheat reference bread breakfast. At a comparison between the rye bread breakfasts the one with rye bran induced the strongest effect on satiety. In the afternoon the effect from all three rye bread breakfasts could still be seen as a decreased hunger and desire to eat compared to the wheat reference bread breakfast.</p> <p>In the Dose-response study both levels of rye bran and the lower level of intermediate rye fraction resulted in an increased satiety before lunch compared with the wheat reference bread breakfast. Neither the variation in composition between the milling fractions nor the different doses resulted in significant differences in any of the appetite ratings when compared with one another.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results show that rye bread can be used to decrease hunger feelings both before and after lunch when included in a breakfast meal. Rye bran induces a stronger effect on satiety than the other two rye fractions used when served in iso-caloric portions.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Trial registration number NCT00876785</p