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Background: Cooking with traditional fuels can lead to severe health issues caused by household air pollution, and can also affect gender equality and drive environmental degradation. In Nepal, despite government efforts to promote electric cooking, more than half of the population still uses traditional fuels, with electric cooking adoption remaining below 1%. Several of the barriers to and enablers of clean cooking vary geographically; however, few studies have considered spatial explicit information in planning national-scale transitions to clean cooking. In this study we provide a spatially explicit roadmap to estimate the required investments and benefits gained from the transition across Nepal., Methods: This study uses geospatial modelling methods to evaluate strategies to achieve the Government of Nepal's vision for a national-scale transition to clean cooking. We integrate the open-source clean cooking geospatial assessment tool OnStove and a spatial multicriteria analysis model. With OnStove, we evaluate which cooking technologies and fuels maximise the net benefits of a clean-cooking transition across each km 2 of the region. With the multicriteria analysis, we weigh stakeholder preferences and prioritise areas of action where policy should be implemented. We used the most up-to-date geospatial data to the year 2023, such as the High Resolution Settlement Layer, Open Street Maps' road networks, the Global Human Settlement Layer, NASA/USGS forest cover maps, and Facebook's Relative Wealth Index, among others. We also relied on data from the Nepal Oil Corporation, the Nepal Electricity Agency, the Central Bureau of Statistic's 2021 national census, and the Alternative Energy Promotion Center. We evaluate four scenarios capturing advances on clean cooking policy up to the year 2022, current market inefficiencies, and the potential effects of new policies for clean-cooking transition in Nepal., Findings: Our results show that transitional and clean cooking technologies provide higher net benefits than traditional options everywhere across Nepal in all scenarios. Our net-benefit analysis shows that around 9563 deaths could be averted yearly if benefits and externalities were perceived and valued correctly. Furthermore, substantial benefits could be achieved in regard to greenhouse gas emissions avoidance, time saved, and health-cost reductions. Our results also show that the current subsidy strategy from the Government of Nepal is well aligned with the benefits achieved under a cost-benefit analysis. In this context, electric cooking can bring the highest benefits to the largest part of the population. The analysis showed how high subsidies for liquefied petroleum gas in Nepal can present trade-offs with energy security and independence, and how this could be avoided by transferring part of the subsidy to cover differentiated electric cooking tariffs. Accounting for stakeholder preferences and sociodemographic and geographical differences to prioritise areas of focus can balance affordability constraints and target the most vulnerable people first, thus achieving integrated and inclusive planning., Interpretation: Using spatially explicit modelling approaches to evaluate strategies for a clean cooking transition can provide more nuanced results that have not been possible before. This approach can enable data-driven and integrated planning to help to understand which locations of a study area should be prioritised for policy application. Integrated planning can help to reduce affordability constraints on the population and design strategies for a sustainable and inclusive transition. These strategies allow financial institutions, donors, impact investors, development organisations, and government agencies to use their resources, funds, and assistance to create a large impact., Funding: Clean Cooking Alliance., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate factors associated with changes in food-preparation practices during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan and its associations to food-group intake. To examine this, a cross-sectional online survey was conducted in July 2020. Participants were 2285 adults aged 20-69 years who resided in any of 13 prefectures in Japan where specific COVID-19 regulations had been implemented. Self-reported changes in food-preparation practices when compared to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period were measured as "increased" (24.6%), "decreased" (7.3%), and "no change" (68.1%), respectively. Stepwise logistic regression analyses indicated that participants who increased the time and effort for food preparation were younger in age, partially working remotely, experiencing reduced household income due to COVID-19, but highly concerned the importance of diet. On the other hand, participants whose household income decreased, and household economic status worsened, as well as those whose importance of diet deteriorated due to COVID-19 were more likely to decrease time and effort for cooking. Although the increased group were more likely to prepare meals with raw ingredients, the decreased group showed higher frequency of using takeout. These results indicated major determinants of changes in time spending on food preparation in consequence of COVID-19, and highlighted essential targets for future nutrition education.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of e-Cooker® and moderate electric field (MEF) cooking on physical and chemical changes occurring during the cooking of meat. Beef muscle samples (38.86 ± 0.08 g) were cooked in saline solution (0.5% w/w NaCl) to a target temperature of 72 °C, followed by a 2 min holding time. The experimental results revealed that e-Cooker® and MEF significantly reduced the come-up time required to achieve a target temperature of 72 °C to 1.16 ± 0.02 min and 0.86 ± 0.02 min, respectively compared to 14.12 ± 0.55 min in conventional cooking. The colour and instrumental texture of cooked meat by e-Cooker® and MEF systems were not significantly different (P > 0.05) from conventionally cooked ones. Overall, the results obtained demonstrated that e-Cooker® and MEF can be used to cook meat in a shorter time and reasonably low energy input while producing a product which is comparable in quality to conventionally cooked meat., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Food insecurity is a persistent issue among individuals with low income and is associated with various nutrition- and health-related consequences. Creative approaches to increasing food access should be investigated as possible solutions. Meal kits, which are boxes or bags of fresh and shelf-stable ingredients for one or more meals, along with a step-by-step recipe showing how to cook each meal at home, may serve as a creative solution. Meal kits have historically been marketed to higher-income demographics. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the utilization, acceptability, and willingness to pay for a healthy meal kit program among African American main food preparers with children and low income (n = 36). Participants received a healthy meal kit with three recipes and ingredients, a cooking incentive, and a nutrition handout weekly for six weeks. Data were collected on participants' use, acceptability, and willingness to pay for the meal kits and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The intervention was highly utilized, and participants reported high acceptability ratings for most recipes. After the intervention, participants were willing to pay $88.61 ± 47.47 for a meal kit with three meals, each with four portions, which was higher than indicated at baseline and similar to the cost to produce the kits. Meal kits may offer a creative solution to improving food access if affordable for families with low income.

Introduction: Introduction: although nutritional differences between different types of texture-modified diet (TMD) have been evaluated, the resources and costs associated with their preparation have been less studied. Objective: to describe the nutritional, microbiological properties and costs of: 1) in-home produced pureed food (hTMD); 2) concentrated nutrient-dense commercial food products, hand-blended (cTMD); 3) food prepared using the MixxPro® automatic food mixer (cTMD-Mix). Methods: an observational, prospective study carried out in three geriatric nursing-homes. Patients ≥ 65 years, receiving TMD, with a stable clinical condition, estimated survival/expected internment > 1 month, and sufficient cognitive capacity were included. The following data were recorded: 1) patient socio-demographic and clinical variables; 2) TMD compliance and symptoms related to dysphagia during the meal; 3) patient appetite; and 4) kitchen information and resources used to prepare a TMD. Results: sixty-two residents were included (65.0 % women, 88.3 years (SD: 9.3); 43.5 % malnourished, 79.0 % with good appetite). The proportion of food eaten/median kcal served/portion/mean kcal consumed were: hTMD: 95.5 % (SD: 10.7)/92.4 kcal (IQR: 75.6-128.1)/88.2 kcal (IQR: 72.2-122.3); cTMD: 89.2 % (SD: 15.9)/323.4 kcal (IQR: 284.2-454.1)/288.5 kcal (IQR: 253.5-325.1); and cTMD-Mix: 80.3 % (SD: 21.4)/358.0 kcal (IQR: 344.0-372.1)/287.5 kcal (IQR: 276.5-298.8). No microorganisms were detected. The average time spent in preparing each portion and its costs were: hTMD: 11.2 min (SD: 3.89)/€2.33 (SD: 0.63); cTMD: 1.7 min (SD: 0.28)/€2.01 (SD: 0.39); and cTMD-Mix: 1.6 min (SD: 0.00)/€2.00 (SD: 0.33). Conclusions: in patients with dysphagia and/or chewing difficulties, concentrated nutrient-dense food products, particularly those produced using the MixxPro® automatic food mixer, ensure a high caloric intake and allow quick and safe food preparation.

Importance: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal program that provides food-purchasing assistance to low-income people; however, its current design does not account for the time availability of SNAP recipients to prepare meals., Objective: To evaluate the association of the availability of funding for food purchases and time for meal preparation with the nutritional quality of meals of SNAP recipients., Design, Setting, and Participants: This study used decision analytical modeling to evaluate the nutritional quality of meals of SNAP recipients. The model was developed from February 6, 2017, to December 12, 2020, using data from 2017 and is based on discrete optimization. The model describes food and grocery purchasing, in-home meal preparation, and meal plan choices of a family of SNAP participants (2 adults and 2 children) while considering food preferences, meal preparation time, and food costs. The model assumes food preferences match the foods typically purchased by SNAP households. Costs of food ingredients and prepared foods are taken from a single zip code., Exposures: Time availability and total amount and type of funding were varied. Allowing prepared delicatessen foods and disallowing frozen prepared foods for purchase using SNAP funds were considered., Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was the number of home-cooked meals and the amounts of fruits, vegetables, protein, sodium, sugar, and fiber consumed from generated meal plans. Amounts were evaluated as a percentage of the quantity recommended by established dietary guidelines., Results: Increased time availability was associated with increases in the percentage of home-cooked meals and servings of fruits/vegetables and decreased sodium consumption. Higher levels of funding were associated with increased consumption of fiber, fruits/vegetables, protein, sodium, and sugar. With 20 min/d of cooking time, $400/mo of SNAP benefits, and $100/mo of self-funding, the meal plan had a mean (SE) of 20.1% (0.3%) of meals home cooked, 0.5 (<0.1) servings/d per person of fruits/vegetables, 100.3% (0.6%) of daily recommended protein per person, 115.1% (0.8%) of daily recommended sodium per person, 241.8% (1.0%) of daily recommended sugar per person, and 31.2% (0.3%) of daily recommended fiber per person. With 20 min/d of cooking time, $400/mo of SNAP benefits, and $600/mo of self-funding, the meal plan had a mean (SE) of 23.9% (1.0%) of meals home cooked, 2.8 (0.1) servings/d per person of fruits/vegetables, 134.9% (1.6%) of daily recommended protein per person, 200.9% (3.1%) of daily recommended sodium per person, 295.1% (3.1%) of daily recommended sugar per person, and 90.1% (1.0%) of daily recommended fiber per person. With 60 min/d of cooking time, $400/mo of SNAP benefits, and $100/mo of self-funding, the meal plan had a mean (SE) of 52.7% (0.9%) of meals home cooked, 1.4 (<0.1) servings/d per person of fruits/vegetables, 109.0% (1.1%) of daily recommended protein per person, 108.7% (1.0%) of daily recommended sodium per person, 298.6% (2.0%) of daily recommended sugar per person, and 38.8% (0.4%) of daily recommended fiber per person. With 60 min/d of cooking time, $400/mo of SNAP benefits, and $600/mo of self-funding, the meal plan had a mean (SE) of 42.8% (1.2%) meals home cooked, 4.3 (0.1) servings/d per person of fruits/vegetables, 144.4% (1.8%) of daily recommended protein per person, 165.2% (2.8%) of daily recommended sodium per person, 322.4% (2.4%) of daily recommended sugar per person, and 91.0% (0.9%) of daily recommended fiber per person., Conclusions and Relevance: In this decision analytical model, meal preparation time was associated with the ability of SNAP recipient families to consume nutritious meals, suggesting that increased funding alone may be insufficient for improving the nutritional profiles of SNAP recipients. Given the current US food supply, governmental interventions that provide the equivalence in increased time availability to achieve nutritious meals may be needed.

Healthy eating is an important issue affecting a large part of the world population, so human diets are becoming increasingly popular, especially with the devastating consequences of Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19). A realistic and sustainable diet plan can help us to have a healthy eating habit since it considers most of the expectations from a diet without any restriction. In this study, the classical diet problem has been extended in terms of modelling, data sets and solution approach. Inspired by animals' hunting strategies, it was re-modelled as a many-objective optimisation problem. In order to have realistic and applicable diet plans, cooked dishes are used. A well-known many-objective evolutionary algorithm is used to solve the diet problem. Results show that our approach can optimise specialised daily menus for different user types, depending on their preferences, age, gender and body index. Our approach can be easily adapted for users with health issues by adding new constraints and objectives. Our approach can be used individually or by dietitians as a decision support mechanism.

Objective: To cope with the pressure of modern life, consumer demand for convenience foods has increased in the last decades. The current study set out to compare the costs of buying industrially processed dishes and of preparing them at home., Design: Direct purchase costs of industrially processed dishes frequently consumed in France (n 19) and of the ingredients needed for their home-prepared counterparts (n 86) were collected from four major food retailers' websites in Montpellier, France. Mean prices and energy density were calculated for four portions. Costs related to energy used by cooking appliances and time spent preparing dishes were further estimated., Setting: Montpellier, France., Participants: Not applicable., Results: Based on the costs of ingredients and energy used for cooking, dishes prepared at home cost less (-0·60 € per four portions, P < 0.001) than industrially processed dishes, but when the cost of time was taken into account, the industrially processed dishes were much cheaper (-5·34 € per four portions, P < 0.001) than their home-prepared counterparts. There was no difference in energy density between industrially processed and home-prepared dishes., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that industrially processed dishes are more profitable to consumers when the cost of time for preparing dishes at home is valued. Given the ever greater demands of everyday life, more account should be taken of the additional cost to consumers of the time they spend preparing meals at home.

Background: Four trials were conducted; the first established optimal cooking time for false codling moth diets using a microwave oven while the other three trials aimed at determining nutrient requirements, testing these, and evaluating alternative cheaper raw materials., Results: Microwave preparation for 8 min, using a 1000 W microwave oven was found to be the optimal cooking time for all treatment diets at 200 g kg -1 moisture. The minimum specification (MS) diet yielded more larvae per jar (mean ± standard deviation) (759 ± 29) than the control (CON) (652 ± 32) diet and the ideal amino acid profile (IAAP) diet (596 ± 46). The third trial subsequently utilized diets formulated according to the MS diet nutrient specifications but using novel and cheaper raw materials (D1 and D2). Production characteristics of diets D1 and D2 was compared to that of CON. Diets D1 and D2 yielded more larvae per jar (D1 = 911 ± 40; D2 = 830 ± 40) than that of CON (428 ± 40) with the added advantage that the newly formulated diets were cheaper., Conclusion: Reduced cost feeds were formulated, mixed and tested which resulted in substantial saving in the mass rearing of the species for integrated pest management. This method shows potential for diet development of other insect species as well. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Cooking with solid fuels and inefficient cookstoves has adverse consequences for health, environment, and human well-being. Despite the promise of improved cookstoves to reduce these impacts, adoption rates are relatively low. Using a 2-wave sample of 144 households from the baseline and first midline of an ongoing 4-year randomized controlled trial in Rwanda, we analyze the drivers and associations of early adoption of a household energy intervention marketed by a private sector firm. Households sign an annual contract to purchase sustainably produced biomass pellets and lease a fan micro-gasification cookstove with verified emissions reductions in laboratory settings. Using difference-in-differences and fixed effects estimation techniques, we examine the association between take-up of the improved cooking system and household fuel expenditures, health outcomes, and time use for primary cooks. Thirty percent of households adopted the pellet and improved cookstove system. Adopting households had more assets, lower per capita total expenditures and cooking fuel expenditures, and higher per capita hygiene expenditures. Households with married household heads and female cooks were significantly more likely to adopt. Adjusting for confounders, we find significant reduction in primary cooks' systolic blood pressure, self-reported prevalence of shortness of breath, an indicator of respiratory illness, time spent cooking, and household expenditures on charcoal. Our findings have implications for marketing of future clean fuel and improved cookstove programs in urban settings or where stoves and fuel are purchased. Analysis of follow-up surveys will allow for estimation of long-term impacts of adoption of interventions involving pellets and fan micro-gasification cookstoves.

Roughly 2.8 billion people depend on solid fuels for cooking needs, resulting in a tremendous burden of disease from exposure to household air pollution. Despite decades of effort to promote cleaner cooking technologies, displacement of polluting technologies has progressed slowly. This paper describes results of a randomized controlled trial in which eight communities in two regions of rural India were presented with a range of cooking choices including improved solid fuel stoves and clean cooking options like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and induction stoves. Using survey data and logistic and multinomial regression, we identify factors associated with two outcomes: (1) pre-intervention ownership of non-solid fuel technologies and (2) household preferences for clean fuels from the range of cooking options offered. The analysis allows us to examine the influence of education, wealth, gender empowerment, stove pricing, and stove exchanges, among other variables. The majority of participants across all communities selected the cleanest options, LPG and induction, irrespective of price, but there is some variation in preferences. Wealth and higher caste stand out as significant predictors of pre-intervention ownership and non-solid fuel cooking options as well as preference for cleaner technologies offered through the intervention. The experimental treatments also influence preferences in some communities. When given the opportunity to exchange, communities in one region are more likely to choose solid fuel stoves (P < 0.05). Giving free stoves had mixed results; households in one region are more likely to select clean options (P < 0.05), but households in the other region prefer solid fuels (P < 0.10).

Conditional cash transfers (CCTs)-cash payments provided to households or specific household members who meet defined conditions or fulfill certain behaviors-have been extensively used in India to encourage antenatal care, institutional delivery, and vaccination. This paper describes the social design and technical development of a low-cost, meal-counting stove use monitor (the Pink Key) that enables a CCT based on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) usage and presents pilot data from its testing and the initial deployment. The system consists of a sensing harness attached to a two-burner LPG stove and an easily removable datalogger. For each cooking event with LPG, households receive 2 rupees-less than the cost of fuel, but enough to partially defray LPG refill costs. The system could enable innovative "self-monitoring" at a large scale-participants initiate the CCT by bringing their Pink Key to antenatal clinic visits, where care providers download data and initiate payments, and participants return the sensor to their stove at home. The system aligns with existing Indian programs to improve health among poor, pregnant women, and contributes a new method to encourage the use of clean cooking technologies.

Background: Despite their potential health and social benefits, adoption and use of improved cookstoves has been low throughout much of the world. Explanations for low adoption rates of these technologies include prices that are not affordable for the target populations, limited opportunities for households to learn about cookstoves through peers, and perceptions that these technologies are not appropriate for local cooking needs. The P3 project employs a novel experimental design to explore each of these factors and their interactive effects on cookstove demand, adoption, use and exposure outcomes., Methods: The P3 study is being conducted in the Kassena-Nankana Districts of Northern Ghana. Leveraging an earlier improved cookstove study that was conducted in this area, the central design of the P3 biomass stove experiment involves offering stoves at randomly varying prices to peers and non-peers of households that had previously received stoves for free. Using household surveys, electronic stove use monitors, and low-cost, portable monitoring equipment, we measure how prices and peers' experience affect perceptions of stove quality, the decision to purchase a stove, use of improved and traditional stoves over time, and personal exposure to air pollutants from the stoves., Discussion: The challenges that public health and development communities have faced in spreading adoption of potentially welfare-enhancing technologies, like improved cookstoves, have highlighted the need for interdisciplinary, multisectoral approaches. The design of the P3 project draws on economic theory, public health practice, engineering, and environmental sciences, to more fully grasp the drivers and barriers to expanding access to and uptake of cleaner stoves. Our partnership between academic institutions, in the US and Ghana, and a local environmental non-governmental organization creates unique opportunities to disseminate and scale up lessons learned., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03617952 7/31/18 (Retrospectively Registered).

Different contextual factors of a household and a community, such as access to resources and transportation, may influence the level of food insecurity. The objective of this study was to identify how food environmental factors and economic resources were related to food insecurity in Korean older adults residing in different contexts of rural areas. Face-to-face interviews with 248 older adults residing in land ( n = 149) and mountain ( n = 99) rural areas were performed. In both areas, risk of food insecurity was increased for households with limited community food accessibility measured by having difficulties in food purchasing due to food stores far from home. There were discrepancies in factors related to increased risks of food insecurity between households in land and mountain areas. The experience of reducing food expenditure resulting from burden of heating costs during the winter in households in a mountain area whereas the percent proportion of housing fee and household cook's physical disability in households residing in the land area were found to be factors associated with increased risks of food insecurity. For households residing in mountain areas, the risk of food insecurity was decreased when economic resources measured by average monthly income for the last one year was increased and there was farming or home gardening activity. Such spatial disparity might affect household food insecurity in rural areas. In addition, food environmental factors and economic resources may affect household food insecurity differently according to the diverse contexts of rural areas. Better understanding of spatial challenges in food insecurity faced by seniors in a large rural area would help prepare programs or policy change to strengthen and improve their food environments.

Soaking of legumes results in the loss of macronutrients, micronutrients and phytochemicals. Fibre, protein and phytochemicals found in legumes exert emulsifying activity that may improve the structure and texture of gluten-free bread. The legume soaking water of haricot beans, garbanzo chickpeas, whole green lentils, split yellow peas and yellow soybeans were tested in this study for functional properties and use as food ingredients. Composition, physicochemical properties and effect on the quality of gluten-free bread were determined for each legume soaking water. Haricot beans and split yellow peas released the highest amount of solids in the legume soaking water: 1.89 and 2.38 g/100 g, respectively. Insoluble fibre was the main constituent of haricot beans legume soaking water, while water-soluble carbohydrates and protein were the major fraction of split yellow peas. High quantities of phenolics (∼400 µg/g) and saponins (∼3 mg/g) were found in the legume soaking water of haricot beans, whole green lentils and split yellow peas. High emulsifying activity (46 and 50%) was found for the legume soaking water of garbanzo chickpeas and split yellow peas, probably due to their protein content and high ratio of water-soluble carbohydrates to dry matter. Such activity resulted in softer texture of the gluten-free bread. A homogeneous structure of crumb pores was found for split yellow peas, opposing that of whole green lentils. A balance between the contents of yeast nutrients and antinutrients was the likely basis of the different appearances.

Background: Exposure to biomass smoke is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Africa. Commercial food vendors in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa are commonly exposed to biomass smoke from open fire cooking both at work and home. Little is known about the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of food vendors about the health hazards of biomass smoke exposure in Nigeria., Methods: We did a descriptive cross sectional survey of the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of commercial food vendors in the cities of Benin and Calabar in Nigeria. We recruited respondents using a multi-stage approach. Structured interviewer-administered questionnaires were used for data collection., Results: We recruited 308 participants (164, 53.2% female). The majority 185(60.2%) were married and had post-primary education 206(67.4%). The average monthly income was <30,000 Naira (US$150). Most 198(64.4%) were not aware that biomass smoke exposure is harmful to human health. About three-quarters (221; 71.8%) were unconcerned as to the effect of exposure to fumes from biomass fuels on their health. Less than half of respondents (110, 41.6%) believed biomass smoke was harmful to health. Male gender, being single, having post-primary education and preferring electricity or gas fuels were associated with good knowledge of the adverse health effects of biomass smoke exposure whilst female gender and having good knowledge of the adverse health effects of biomass smoke were associated with positive attitudes towards preventing exposure., Conclusion: Commercial food vendors in our study had limited knowledge about the adverse health effects of biomass smoke exposure and negative attitudes towards preventing these adverse health effects. We suggest an educational intervention is needed to improve this knowledge.

The main purpose of this study is to identify consumer segments based on the importance of product attributes when buying seafood for homemade meals on weekdays. There is a particular focus on the relative importance of the packaging attributes of fresh seafood. The results are based on a representative survey of 840 Norwegian consumers between 18 and 80 years of age. This study found that taste, freshness, nutritional value and naturalness are the most important attributes for the home consumption of seafood. Except for the high importance of information about expiration date, most other packaging attributes have only medium importance. Three consumer segments are identified based on the importance of 33 attributes associated with seafood: Perfectionists, Quality Conscious and Careless Consumers. The Quality Conscious consumers feel more self-confident in their evaluation of quality, and are less concerned with packaging, branding, convenience and emotional benefits compared to the Perfectionists. Careless Consumers are important as regular consumers of convenient and pre-packed seafood products and value recipe information on the packaging. The seafood industry may use the results provided in this study to strengthen their positioning of seafood across three different consumer segments., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Convenience and cost impact on people's meal decisions. Takeaway and pre-prepared foods save preparation time but may contribute to poorer-quality diets. Analysing the impact of time on relative cost differences between meals of varying convenience contributes to understanding the barrier of time to selecting healthy meals., Design: Six popular New Zealand takeaway meals were identified from two large national surveys and compared with similar, but healthier, home-made and home-assembled meals that met nutrition targets consistent with New Zealand Eating and Activity Guidelines. The cost of each complete meal, cost per kilogram, and confidence intervals of the cost of each meal type were calculated. The time-inclusive cost was calculated by adding waiting or preparation time cost at the minimum wage., Setting: A large urban area in New Zealand., Results: For five of six popular meals, the mean cost of the home-made and home-assembled meals was cheaper than the takeaway meals. When the cost of time was added, all home-assembled meal options were the cheapest and half of the home-made meals were at least as expensive as the takeaway meals. The home-prepared meals were designed to provide less saturated fat and Na and more vegetables than their takeaway counterparts; however, the home-assembled meals provided more Na than the home-made meals., Conclusions: Healthier home-made and home-assembled meals were, except one, cheaper options than takeaways. When the cost of time was added, either the home-made or the takeaway meal was the most expensive. This research questions whether takeaways are better value than home-prepared meals.

Food-related choices have an important impact on health. Food preparation methods may be linked to diet and health benefits. However, the factors influencing people's food choices, and how they are shaped by food preparation experiences, are still not fully understood. We aimed to study home food preparation practices, experiences and perceptions amongst adults in North East England. A matrix was used to purposively sample participants with diverse socio-demographic characteristics. Participants developed photographic food diaries that were used as prompts during semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using the Framework Method. Interviews were conducted with 18 adults (five men and 13 women), aged approximately 20 to 80 years, to reach data saturation. Participants' practices varied widely, from reliance on pre-prepared foods, to preparing complex meals entirely from basic ingredients. Key themes emerged regarding the cook (identity), the task (process of cooking), and the context (situational drivers). Resources, in terms of time, money and facilities, were also underpinning influences on food preparation. Participants' practices were determined by both personal motivations to cook, and the influence of others, and generally reflected compromises between varied competing demands and challenges in life. Most people appeared to be overall content with their food preparation behaviour, though ideally aspired to cook more frequently, using basic ingredients. This often seemed to be driven by social desirability. Home food preparation is complex, with heterogeneous practices, experiences and perceptions both between individuals and within the same individual over time, according to shifting priorities and circumstances. Generalisability of these findings may be limited by the regional participant sample; however the results support and build upon previous research. Focussing interventions on life transition points at which priorities and circumstances change, with careful targeting to stimulate personal motivation and social norms, may prove effective in encouraging home food preparation.

The term convenience food is subject to diversification, lack of clarity and moral ambiguity. In this paper we address these issues and critically discuss convenience food by using empirical findings from a Danish study that deals with practitioners' uses of meal box schemes. The methodological design consists of thirteen individual interviews, four focus groups and some observations of cooking practices. We combine the empirical findings with a particular definition of convenience food by Brunner et al. (2010) and selected practice theoretical concepts. This particular combination enables us to categorize meal box schemes as a new form of convenience food called convenient food. In addition, results suggest that meal box schemes reduce leftovers from dinner. Meal boxes also influence dinner related activities such as planning ahead in time and grocery shopping, which require less physical and mental effort., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Pneumonia is the leading cause of mortality for children under five years in sub-Saharan Africa. Household air pollution has been found to increase risk of pneumonia, especially due to exposure from dirty burning biomass fuels. It has been suggested that advanced stoves, which burn fuel more efficiently and reduce smoke emissions, may help to reduce household air pollution in poor, rural settings. This qualitative study aims to provide an insight into the household costs and perceived benefits from use of the stove in Malawi. It was conducted alongside The Cooking and Pneumonia Study (CAPS), the largest village cluster-level randomised controlled trial of an advanced combustion cookstove intervention to prevent pneumonia in children under five to date. In 2015, using 100 semi-structured interviews this study assessed household time use and perceptions of the stove from both control and intervention participants taking part in the CAPS trial in Chilumba. Household direct and indirect costs associated with the intervention were calculated. Users overwhelming liked using the stove. The main reported benefits were reduced cooking times and reduced fuel consumption. In most interviews, the health benefits were not initially identified as advantages of the stove, although when prompted, respondents stated that reduced smoke emissions contributed to a reduction in respiratory symptoms. The cost of the stove was much higher than most respondents said they would be willing to pay. The stoves were not primarily seen as health products. Perceptions of limited impact on health was subsequently supported by the CAPS trial data which showed no significant effect on pneumonia. While the findings are encouraging from the perspective of acceptability, without innovative financing mechanisms, general uptake and sustained use of the stove may not be possible in this setting. The findings also raise the question of whether the stoves should be marketed and championed as 'health interventions'., (Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Cooking at home is associated with better diet quality. This study examined the frequency of home-cooked dinners versus eating out in relation to the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), and food expenditures., Methods: The Seattle Obesity Study used a stratified random sample of 437 King County adults. In-person computer-assisted interviews collected sociodemographic and behavioral data during 2011-2013. HEI-2010 and 2005 were computed using Food Frequency Questionnaires. Multivariable regression analyses, conducted in 2015, examined associations among HEI scores, food expenditures, and frequency of cooking at home versus eating out variables., Results: Frequent home-cooked dinners were associated with being married, unemployed, larger households, presence of children aged <12 years, and lower frequency of eating out, but unrelated to education or income. In adjusted models, frequent at-home cooking was associated with higher HEI-2010 (β=7.4, p<0.001), whereas frequent eating out was associated with lower HEI-2010 (β= -6.6, p<0.001). Frequent home cooking was linked with reduced per capita food expenditures overall ($330/month among low vs $273/month among high cooking group, p<0.001), and reduced away-from-home expenditures ($133 and $65, respectively), without any significant increase in at-home food expenditures. However, frequent eating out was associated with significantly higher per capita food expenditures overall ($261 in low vs $364 among high eating out group, p=0.001), and higher away-from-home expenditures., Conclusions: Home-cooked dinners were associated with greater dietary guideline compliance, without significant increase in food expenditures. By contrast, frequent eating out was associated with higher expenditures and lower compliance. Home cooking may be a component of nutrition resilience., (Copyright © 2017 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of boiling and roasting on the proximate, lipid oxidation, fatty acid profile and mineral content of two sesame seeds varieties. The proximate composition was significantly affected (P<0.05) during treatments. The minerals of seeds roasting at 120°C for 10min were significantly decreased. The free fatty acids content of sesame oil after processing was significantly increased (P<0.05). Iodine and peroxide value were also affected by processing. Totox and p-Anisidine values were significantly increased during processing. The fatty acids composition a little modified during processing, and roasting at 180°C for 10min mostly affected the polyunsaturated fatty acids for all sesame varieties. C16:0, C18:0, C18:1 and C18:2 were quantitatively the most important fatty acids in sesame oil. Boiling appeared to be the best processing method for cooking the two sesame varieties concerning oxidative stability and fatty acid profile., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The first year of a child's life is a key period of transition from an exclusive milk diet to solid foods to meet growing nutritional demands. An increased requirement for nutrients includes the introduction of protein-rich solid foods, such as seafood, which additionally provides valuable omega-3 fatty acids. However, consumption of seafood is low in the British child population. The aim of this study was to identify maternal perceptions of the factors that can influence the decision on whether to provide seafood during early years' feeding using a multi-method qualitative study design. A total of 26 discussions posted by mothers on parenting websites; Mumknowsbest, Mumsnet and Netmums, accessed July 2013, together with discussions from six focus groups (February-July 2014) in the North East of Scotland were included for thematic qualitative analysis. Discussions on the inclusion of seafood during the early years were centred across four interrelating themes; - food-related attributes, mother-centred aspects, family-centred aspects, and external information sources. Concerns regarding safety and mothers' limited knowledge and skills on seafood were apparent from discussions; however, the practicalities of providing a cost effective family meal were also issues raised by mothers. An understanding of the numerous and sometimes contradictory influences on mothers' decisions to include seafood during early years' period could be used to develop strategies to help increase regular seafood consumption. In particular, ensuring formal information and guidance clearly addresses the safety concerns of mothers and the development of practical education schemes to encourage and teach cooking skills should be considered., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To compare the cost, nutritional and food variety contents of commercial meals and published infant and young child feeding (IYCF) home-cooked recipes, and to compare nutritional contents to age-specific recommendations., Design: Cross-sectional study., Setting: Full range of preprepared main meals available within the UK market. Main-meal recipes identified from a survey of Amazon's top 20 best-sellers and IYCF cookbooks available from local libraries., Samples: 278 commercial IYCF savoury meals from UK market and 408 home-cooked recipes from best-selling IYCF published cookbooks., Main Outcome Measures: Cost and nutritional content per 100 g and food variety per meal for both commercial meals and home-cooked recipes., Results: Commercial products provided more 'vegetable' variety per meal (median=3.0; r=-0.33) than home-cooked recipes (2.0). Home-cooked recipes provided 26% more energy and 44% more protein and total fat than commercial products (r=-0.40, -0.31, -0.40, respectively) while costing less (£0.33/100 g and £0.68/100 g, respectively). The majority of commercial products (65%) met energy density recommendations but 50% of home-cooked recipes exceeded the maximum range., Conclusions: The majority of commercial meals provided an energy-dense meal with greater vegetable variety per meal to their home-cooked counterparts. Home-cooked recipes provided a cheaper meal option, however the majority exceeded recommendations for energy and fats., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.)

This study aims to describe the prices of food groups consumed in Brazil considering the nature, extent, and purpose of their processing. Data were obtained from the Brazilian Household Budget Survey for 2008-2009. The mean prices of the groups (natural, cooking ingredients, processed, and ultra-processed) and their respective food subgroups were estimated for Brazil according to income, region, and area. Natural products and cooking ingredients showed lower prices per calorie when compared to the other groups, suggesting an economic advantage to preparing meals at home when compared to replacing them with ultra-processed foods. Families with the highest income paid the highest prices for their food, while families in the Northeast and North regions and rural areas paid the lowest. While fresh foods (meat, milk, fruit, and vegetables) tend to cost more than ultra-processed foods, dry grains (like rice and beans) are a more economical alternative for adopting healthy eating practices.

Fresh fruit has been associated with a number of foodborne outbreaks in recent years. In particular, a large outbreak of listeriosis in the United States in 2011 was associated with consumption of cantaloupe melon, and an outbreak of Salmonella Newport in the United Kingdom and Europe (also in 2011) was linked to watermelon consumption. A study of precut fruit products from catering and retail premises in the United Kingdom was, therefore, carried out to assess their microbiological safety. Between January and March 2012, samples (1,188) of ready-to-eat precut fruit were collected from retail and catering premises in the United Kingdom, and 99% were of satisfactory microbiological quality. However, four samples (0.3%) were of an unsatisfactory quality (one with 800 CFU/g Listeria monocytogenes and three with >100 CFU/g Escherichia coli), and five samples (0.4%) were of a borderline quality owing to the presence of E. coli (two samples with a level of 20 CFU/g), Staphylococcus aureus (two samples with levels of >50 CFU/g), or L. monocytogenes (one sample with a level of 80 CFU/g). L. monocytogenes or other Listeria species were detected in a further 54 samples (4.5%) at levels below the threshold considered to be borderline or unsatisfactory. A significantly larger proportion of samples from one national supermarket chain was contaminated with L. monocytogenes than other supermarkets, and two types were, in this study, unique to this supermarket. This study shows that overall, the microbiological quality of ready-to-eat precut fruit was good. However, the presence of Listeria species in 5% of samples highlights the need for good hygiene during preparation and satisfactory temperature and time control during storage of these food products.

The USAID/WASHplus project conducted a comprehensive assessment to understand consumer needs and preferences as they relate to increasing the uptake and consistent, exclusive, and correct use of improved cookstoves (ICSs) in Bangladesh. The assessment included household ICS trials, fuel and stove use monitoring, and consumers' perceived value of and willingness to pay for ICSs. Results showed that cooks appreciated and liked the ICS, but that no models met consumer needs sufficiently to replace traditional stoves. Initially, many preferred ICSs over traditional stoves, but this preference decreased over the 3-week trial period. Complaints and suggestions for improvement fell into two general categories: those that can be addressed through fairly simple modifications to the stove design, and those more appropriately addressed through point-of-purchase consumer education and follow-up from service agents or health outreach workers. Most households using the ICS realized fuel use reductions, although these were lower than expected, partly because of continued parallel traditional stove use. When given the option to purchase the stoves at market value, only one of 105 households did so; however, a separate assessment showed that 80% of participants (12 of 15 households) preferred to keep the stove rather than receive a cash buyout at market value. This indicates that users value the ICS when acquisition barriers are removed and highlights the need for better financing options.

Traditional community cookstoves have a low level of efficiency due to their poor heat transfer efficiency and incomplete combustion. The low efficiency results in a high consumption of fuel wood, thereby creating a need of more fuel wood. This paper deals with the development of a biomass cookstove suitable for community cooking. The stove exhibits approximately 36.38% thermal efficiency and has a thermal power rating of 5 kW. The maximum flame temperature recorded was 712°C. The data indicate that the developed cookstove can save approximately 7155 kg of CO2 per annum.

Despite the potential of improved cookstoves to reduce the adverse environmental and health impacts of solid fuel use, their adoption and use remains low. Social marketing-with its focus on the marketing mix of promotion, product, price, and place-offers a useful way to understand household behaviors and design campaigns to change biomass fuel use. We report on a series of pilots across 3 Indian states that use different combinations of the marketing mix. We find sales varying from 0% to 60%. Behavior change promotion that combined door-to-door personalized demonstrations with information pamphlets was effective. When given a choice amongst products, households strongly preferred an electric stove over improved biomass-burning options. Among different stove attributes, reduced cooking time was considered most valuable by those adopting a new stove. Households clearly identified price as a significant barrier to adoption, while provision of discounts (e.g., rebates given if households used the stove) or payments in installments were related to higher purchase. Place-based factors such as remoteness and nongovernmental organization operations significantly affected the ability to supply and convince households to buy and use improved cookstoves. Collectively, these pilots point to the importance of continued and extensive testing of messages, pricing models, and different stove types before scale-up. Thus, we caution that a one-size-fits-all approach will not boost improved cookstove adoption.

This study looked at the effects of select behavior change interventions on the purchase and the correct and consistent use of a locally fabricated top-lit updraft (TLUD) stove in Uganda. Behavior change interventions included training of community sales agents and village health team volunteers on household air pollution and correct use, referral of interested community members to sales agents, community cooking demonstrations, information flyers, and direct sales of TLUDs and processed wood. Qualitative and quantitative research methods shaped interventions and were used to understand attitudes and practices related to TLUD stove acquisition and use. Results showed that TLUDs were appreciated because they use wood efficiently, cook quickly, reduce smoke, and produce charcoal. However, the substantial purchase price barrier, combined with the cost of processed wood, effectively eliminated the cost savings from its significant fuel efficiency. This made it difficult for the TLUD to be a meaningful part of most households' cooking practices.

Globally, women's involvement in clean cooking value chains has been minimal. This is partly because of the multiple challenges faced by women that impede their capacity to effectively engage in the energy sector. To better discern gender-specific differences in involvement in the energy sector, the authors conducted a randomized trial in Kenya to compare sales performance of newly trained male and female improved cookstove entrepreneurs and to test the effects of an agency-based empowerment training on business activity. A total of 257 entrepreneurs completed either a 4-day entrepreneurial training (control) or a 4-day empowerment training (intervention) and were followed for nearly 8 months documenting business activity and sales. The empowerment training led to more than doubling of sales for both genders. In addition, participants in the intervention group were significantly more likely to demonstrate business commitment over time and nearly three times more likely to be higher sellers (relative risk = 2.7, 95% CI [1.4, 5.4]), controlling for gender and rural/urban locale. Women outsold men by a margin of nearly 3 to 1 and were more likely to continue to pursue leads despite limited sales. Nonactive participants (those selling 1 improved cookstove or less) were a larger percentage of the control group (72%) than the intervention group (50%), and more men were nonactive participants (65% of men) compared with women (56% of women).These data show that women can serve as active improved cookstove entrepreneurs in both urban and rural settings and that targeted agency-based empowerment training can significantly increase women's capacity to engage effectively within the improved cookstove value chain.

Family meals are positively associated with increased consumption of fruits and vegetables and numerous nutrients, promoting good eating habits and disease prevention. Families benefiting from home-cooked meals are more likely to consume smaller portions and fewer calories, less fat, less salt, and less sugar. Some Western cultures have lost confidence in preparing meals and tend to rely on foods prepared outside the home. The ability of young adults to prepare foods at home may be impaired. The purpose of our study is to identify motivators and, consequently, barriers to preparing foods at home vs purchasing preprepared foods from a deli or eating in a restaurant. Focus groups of college students (n=239) from two universities were asked questions about motivators to preparing meals at home in two subsequent sessions. The primary motivators among the students were that they desired to save money; had a model in food preparation; were familiar with cooking techniques; and had enough time to shop, cook, and clean up after meals. Food and nutrition practitioners have opportunities to promote cost-effective, simple, and time-saving home food preparation techniques as healthful habits., (Copyright © 2014 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Globally, 2.8 billion people rely on household solid fuels. Reducing the resulting adverse health, environmental, and development consequences will involve transitioning through a mix of clean fuels and improved solid fuel stoves (IS) of demonstrable effectiveness. To date, achieving uptake of IS has presented significant challenges., Objectives: We performed a systematic review of factors that enable or limit large-scale uptake of IS in low- and middle-income countries., Methods: We conducted systematic searches through multidisciplinary databases, specialist websites, and consulting experts. The review drew on qualitative, quantitative, and case studies and used standardized methods for screening, data extraction, critical appraisal, and synthesis. We summarized our findings as "factors" relating to one of seven domains-fuel and technology characteristics; household and setting characteristics; knowledge and perceptions; finance, tax, and subsidy aspects; market development; regulation, legislation, and standards; programmatic and policy mechanisms-and also recorded issues that impacted equity., Results: We identified 31 factors influencing uptake from 57 studies conducted in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. All domains matter. Although factors such as offering technologies that meet household needs and save fuel, user training and support, effective financing, and facilitative government action appear to be critical, none guarantee success: All factors can be influential, depending on context. The nature of available evidence did not permit further prioritization., Conclusions: Achieving adoption and sustained use of IS at a large scale requires that all factors, spanning household/community and program/societal levels, be assessed and supported by policy. We propose a planning tool that would aid this process and suggest further research to incorporate an evaluation of effectiveness.

Improved cook stoves (ICS) have been widely touted for their potential to deliver the triple benefits of improved household health and time savings, reduced deforestation and local environmental degradation, and reduced emissions of black carbon, a significant short-term contributor to global climate change. Yet diffusion of ICS technologies among potential users in many low-income settings, including India, remains slow, despite decades of promotion. This paper explores the variation in perceptions of and preferences for ICS in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as revealed through a series of semi-structured focus groups and interviews from 11 rural villages or hamlets. We find cautious interest in new ICS technologies, and observe that preferences for ICS are positively related to perceptions of health and time savings. Other respondent and community characteristics, e.g., gender, education, prior experience with clean stoves and institutions promoting similar technologies, and social norms as perceived through the actions of neighbours, also appear important. Though they cannot be considered representative, our results suggest that efforts to increase adoption and use of ICS in rural India will likely require a combination of supply-chain improvements and carefully designed social marketing and promotion campaigns, and possibly incentives, to reduce the up-front cost of stoves.

Background: Traditional biomass has been the major source of cooking energy for major segment of Ethiopian population for thousands of years. Cognizant of this energy poverty, the Government of Ethiopia has been spending huge sum of money to increase hydroelectric power generating stations., Objective: To assess current levels and correlates of traditional cooking energy sources utilization., Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted employing both quantitative and qualitative approaches on systematically selected 423 households for quantitative and purposively selected 20 people for qualitative parts. SPSS version 16 for windows was used to analyze the quantitative data. Logistic regression was fitted to assess possible associations and its strength was measured using odds ratio at 95% CI. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically., Result: The study indicated that 95% of households still use traditional biomass for cooking. Those who were less knowledgeable about negative health and environmental effects of traditional cooking energy sources were seven and six times more likely to utilize them compared with those who were knowledgeable (AOR (95% CI) = 7.56 (1.635, 34.926), AOR (95% CI) = 6.68 (1.80, 24.385), resp.). The most outstanding finding of this study was that people use traditional energy for cooking mainly due to lack of the knowledge and their beliefs about food prepared using traditional energy. That means "...people still believe that food cooked with charcoal is believed to taste delicious than cooked with other means." , Conclusion: The majority of households use traditional biomass for cooking due to lack of knowledge and belief. Therefore, mechanisms should be designed to promote electric energy and to teach the public about health effects of traditional cooking energy source.

In many rural contexts of the developing world, agricultural residues and the organic fraction of waste are often burned in open-air to clear the lands or just to dispose them. This is a common practice which generates uncontrolled emissions, while wasting a potential energy resource. This is the case of rice husk in the Logone Valley (Chad/Cameroon). In such a context household energy supply is a further critical issue. Modern liquid fuel use is limited and traditional solid fuels (mainly wood) are used for daily cooking in rudimentary devices like 3-stone fires, resulting in low efficiency fuel use, huge health impacts, increasing exploitation stress for the local natural resources. Rice husk may be an alternative fuel to wood for household energy supply. In order to recover such a biomass, the authors are testing a proper stove with an original design. Its lay-out (featuring a metal-net basket to contain the fuel and a chimney to force a natural air draft) allows a mix of combustion/gasification of the biomass occurring in a completely burning fire, appropriate for cooking tasks. According to results obtained with rigorous test protocols (Water Boiling Test), different lay-outs have been designed to improve the performance of the stove. Technical and economic issues have been addressed in the development of such a model; building materials have been chosen in order to guarantee a cost as low as possible, using locally available items. The feasibility of the introduction of the stove in the studied context was assessed through an economic model that keeps into account not only the technology and fuel costs, but also the energy performance. According to the model, the threshold for the trade-off of the stove is the use of rice husk to cover 10-15% of the household energy needs both with traditional fireplaces or with improved efficiency cookstoves. The use of the technology proposed in combination with improved woodstove would provide householders with an appropriate and convenient cooking technology portfolio, increasing the opportunities of choice of the preferred energy system for the user and allowing significant savings for the family budget (up to 50% of the total annual cooking energy expenditure). The proposed model may be used also as a tool for the evaluation of the affordability or for the comparison of different cooking technologies also in other similar contexts, given their specific techno-economic parameter values., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: In India, approximately 66% of households rely on dung or woody biomass as fuels for cooking. These fuels are burned under inefficient conditions, leading to household air pollution (HAP) and exposure to smoke containing toxic substances. Large-scale intervention efforts need to be informed by careful piloting to address multiple methodological and sociocultural issues. This exploratory study provides preliminary data for such an exercise from Palwal District, Haryana, India., Methods: Traditional cooking practices were assessed through semi-structured interviews in participating households. Philips and Oorja, two brands of commercially available advanced cookstoves with small blowers to improve combustion, were deployed in these households. Concentrations of particulate matter (PM) with a diameter <2.5 μm (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO) related to traditional stove use were measured using real-time and integrated personal, microenvironmental samplers for optimizing protocols to evaluate exposure reduction. Qualitative data on acceptability of advanced stoves and objective measures of stove usage were also collected., Results: Twenty-eight of the thirty-two participating households had outdoor primary cooking spaces. Twenty households had liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) but preferred traditional stoves as the cost of LPG was higher and because meals cooked on traditional stoves were perceived to taste better. Kitchen area concentrations and kitchen personal concentrations assessed during cooking events were very high, with respective mean PM2.5 concentrations of 468 and 718 µg/m3. Twenty-four hour outdoor concentrations averaged 400 µg/m3. Twenty-four hour personal CO concentrations ranged between 0.82 and 5.27 ppm. The Philips stove was used more often and for more hours than the Oorja., Conclusions: The high PM and CO concentrations reinforce the need for interventions that reduce HAP exposure in the aforementioned community. Of the two stoves tested, participants expressed satisfaction with the Philips brand as it met the local criteria for usability. Further understanding of how the introduction of an advanced stove influences patterns of household energy use is needed. The preliminary data provided here would be useful for designing feasibility and/or pilot studies aimed at intervention efforts locally and nationally.

Purpose: Determinants of self-efficacy related to food preparation using store-bought food were examined in women belonging to the Atikamekw Nation. Also examined was whether self-efficacy was associated with household food insecurity., Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 107 women responsible for household food supplies. Two self-efficacy scores were calculated, one for healthy food preparation and one for food preparation in general. Household food insecurity was measured with an adapted version of the United States Food Security Core Module. The other variables were household composition, income sources, food supplies, tobacco use, participants' health status, and lifestyle and sociodemographic characteristics. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze associations between self-efficacy and household food insecurity in 99 participants., Results: Severe household food insecurity was associated with significantly lower healthy food preparation scores in Atikamekw women. Other associated variables were food supplies, marital status, alcohol consumption, weight status, and understanding of the native language., Conclusions: Application of the concept of self-efficacy contributes to a better understanding of the factors influencing food preparation in Atikamekw women. In this study, self-efficacy in healthy food preparation was linked to food insecurity and obesity, particularly in the most serious cases. Efforts to improve diet will require not only behavioural interventions, but public policies.

Biomass combustion with traditional cookstoves causes substantial environmental and health harm. Nontraditional cookstove technologies can be efficacious in reducing this adverse impact, but they are adopted and used at puzzlingly low rates. This study analyzes the determinants of low demand for nontraditional cookstoves in rural Bangladesh by using both stated preference (from a nationally representative survey of rural women) and revealed preference (assessed by conducting a cluster-randomized trial of cookstove prices) approaches. We find consistent evidence across both analyses suggesting that the women in rural Bangladesh do not perceive indoor air pollution as a significant health hazard, prioritize other basic developmental needs over nontraditional cookstoves, and overwhelmingly rely on a free traditional cookstove technology and are therefore not willing to pay much for a new nontraditional cookstove. Efforts to improve health and abate environmental harm by promoting nontraditional cookstoves may be more successful by designing and disseminating nontraditional cookstoves with features valued more highly by users, such as reduction of operating costs, even when those features are not directly related to the cookstoves' health and environmental impacts.

The use of indoor, three-stone fire pits in resource-poor countries is a substantial burden on human health and the environment. We conducted a pilot intervention promoting the purchase and use of an improved cookstove in rural Kenya. The goals of this qualitative inquiry were to understand the motivation to purchase and use; perceived benefits and challenges of cookstove use; and the most influential promotion activities for scaling up future cookstove promotion. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 10 cookstove promoters and 30 cookstove purchasers in the Luo community. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were transcribed and a thematic analysis conducted. Women reported the need for less firewood, fuel cost savings, reduced smoke, improved cooking efficiency, reduced eye irritation, lung congestion and coughing as major benefits of the cookstove. Cost appeared to be a barrier to wider adoption. The most persuasive promotion strategies were interpersonal communication through social networks and cooking demonstrations. Despite this cost barrier, many women still considered the improved cookstove to be a great asset within their household. This inquiry provided important guidance for future cookstove implementation projects.

We examine the control of air pollution caused by households burning wood for heating and cooking in the developing world. Since the problem is one of controlling emissions from nonpoint sources, regulations are likely to be directed at household choices of wood consumption and combustion technologies. Moreover, these choices are subtractions from, or contributions to, the pure public good of air quality. Consequently, the efficient policy design is not independent of the distribution of household income. Since it is unrealistic to assume that environmental authorities can make lump sum income transfers part of control policies, efficient control of air pollution caused by wood consumption entails a higher tax on wood consumption and a higher subsidy for more efficient combustion technologies for higher income households. Among other difficulties, implementing a policy to promote the adoption of cleaner combustion technologies must overcome the seemingly paradoxical result that efficient control calls for higher technology subsidies for higher income households., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper explores the political, economic, and social life of Nelson Mandela through his food choices from 1918 to the present. A description of the minutiae of one particular 1950s Sunday lunch is used to examine the broader role of first colonial and later apartheid legislation in determining the dietary choices and options of South Africans past and present. How such policies shaped attitudes and access to Nelson Mandela’s ancestral Xhosa cuisine is assessed. The long-term cultural, economic, and political impact of a lack of access to core indigenous African ingredients is evaluated. Most of all this paper offers a snapshot portrayal of two families (one white, one black) trying to sustain a normal friendship within a grossly abnormal society.